The Violin: Its Famous Makers and Their ImitatorsHart, George
History
The Violin: Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators
Hart, George
Violin -- History; Violin makers -- Biography
"In the year 1682, on the 8th of September, the banker Michele Monzi,
of Venice, sent him an order for the whole set of Violins, Altos, and
Violoncellos which that gentleman sent as a present to King James of
England."[18] The interesting remarks of Arisi with regard to the
inlaid instruments of Stradivari are those we should expect from an
admirer of delicate artistic work, who possessed no special knowledge
of Violins as instruments of music. The existence of some of the
instruments to which he refers, together with the tracings of the
actual designs and the tools with which the work was accomplished,
render his observations, read at this distance of time, peculiarly
pleasing. The possessor of the models, tools, labels, and drawings
used by Stradivari is the Marquis Dalla Valle, of Casale, to whom they
passed by inheritance from his great-uncle, Count Cozio, who purchased
them in 1775.
[Footnote 18: These instruments were probably sent to England in 1685,
or later.]
[Illustration: THE HOUSE OF STRADIVARI, WEST SIDE, PIAZZA ROMA,
CREMONA.]
Vincenzo Lancetti, referring to the collection, after mention of
Stradivari having been buried in the Church of S. Domenico, continues,
"As appears from the correspondence held in 1775, by the said Count
Cozio with Antonio's son Paolo Stradivari, cloth merchant, when the
former bought of the latter all the remaining Violins, the forms, the
patterns, moulds, and drawings of the said celebrated Antonio, as well
as those of the Amati, with which he enriched his collection." In an
article published in the "Gazzetta Piedmontese," October, 1881, upon
the occasion of the exhibition, at Milan, of the relics of the shop of
Stradivari, the writer gives the following account of the
negotiations: "Count Cozio, a great patron, intimate with the greatest
artists of the period, especially with Rolla, purchased, through the
instrumentality of the firm of merchants, Anselmi di Briata, from
Paolo and Antonio junior, respectively son and nephew of Antonio
Stradivari, in 1776, all the tools, drawings, labels, &c., which had
been used by the celebrated Violin-maker, and his heirs, who were
desirous that nothing belonging to him should remain in his native
town, as it is inferred, from a curious document, hastened to conclude
the sale."[19] It is certain, however, that Lancetti received his
information from the Count himself, and negotiations were certainly
carried on between Paolo and the Count, either directly or through his
agents, Anselmi di Briata.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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