Scan 60
The violin & its story : or the history & construction of the violin, 1905
2 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 44. See the scan on archive.org.
1the greatest perfection, and to regulate the thickness of his wood with the nicest exactitude. His varnish gained more fire and brilliance—in a word, his instruments took on an altogether changed appearance. This was the time when he entirely freed himself from the traditions of the Amati School. It was in the year 1700, when Stradivarius was already fifty-six years of age, that he revealed the powers of a master in their most brilliant form, and the instruments which he turned out from that year until 1715 were, without exception, of an unapproachable perfection. He now left off making experiments, and, convinced that he had reached his goal, he brought to bear upon every smallest detail the most scrupulous care, and wrought every part with the most laborious and unvarying precision. For his bellies he used only the most carefully selected and perfectly grained wood, which he used in such a way as to bring the narrowest of the stripes, or "year-rings," to the middle of the belly. His arching is the smallest of all the Italian masters, being only half-an-inch high, on which account the table is made of just that precise thickness which will enable it to withstand the pressure of the strings, without, at the same time, suffering any loss of vibrating power. For his sides he mostly at this period used willow, no doubt because it is specifically lighter than any other kind of wood. His sound-holes, cut with a masterly hand, remain as perfect models for all his successors; and the instruments of this brilliant era of Stradivarius's career exhibit a perfection of form which is only equalled by the wonderful precision manifested in even the most minute detail. It was but occasionally, and even then only to satisfy the fad of some artist, that he made any departure from his fixed and settled pattern. Thus, for example, he made some instruments of a somewhat longer pattern than usual; in appearance they reveal but little charm, but the minute care in the workmanship, the assured calculation of the relation of the parts to each other, the brilliance of tone and grand power, are the same in these as in the other works of that period.
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