Stradivari and Guarneri 

del GesùA Brief History by Robert

Bein

Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù (1698-1744) are the two
most celebrated violin makers of all time. Working in the small northern Italian city of
Cremona, these two craftsmen left an unsurpassable legacy.
Though violin making reached its zenith in the hands of Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù,
the story of the violin begins much earlier in Cremona. Andrea Amati (c 1505-1577) is the
earliest recorded violin maker and, in all likelihood, the inventor of the violin. His sons
Antonio and Girolamo, commonly referred to as the Brothers Amati, took over the shop
after his death. Nicolò Amati, the most famous member of the family, was born to
Girolamo in 1596 and took over the family business after 1630. For centuries, musicians
and connoisseurs have prized Nicolò Amati violins for their superb craftsmanship and
wonderfully responsive tone. During the 17th century, the name Amati was virtually a
synonym for a fine violin.
As important as Nicolò Amati was as a violin maker, he was perhaps even more
significant to the ultimate success and perfection of the violin as a teacher and
inspiration. As a result of his pupils and followers, nearly all violins made in the 17th
century were based in some way on Amati models either from direct contact with the
master or through imitation of his instruments. Both Stradivari and Guarneri del
Gesù descended from the Amati violin-making tradition in Cremona.
 A violin by Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1708, “Ruby”
Photo: Matthew Tolzmann

Antonio Stradivari
The earliest known violin labeled by Antonio Stradivari was made in 1666, and on the
label Stradivari proclaimed himself to be a pupil of Nicolò Amati. Beyond this particular
label (which is not known to have been used on any subsequent instruments), his precise
relationship to Nicolò Amati is not known.

Stradivari made instruments in the Amati style during the first part of his career, from
1666 until about 1680. During this time he made relatively few violins, leading to some
speculation that he may possibly have worked in some other trade or been involved in
making other types of instruments. Despite the relatively few Stradivari violins from this
period, the “Hellier” violin of 1679 demonstrates that Stradivari was not only an
exceptional craftsman but also that his design and drafting skills were far better than any
other violin maker of the time.

As the 1680s progressed, Stradivari’s violins took on a more robust character both
physically and tonally. While he continued to use the same fundamental Amati system of
making, he developed a personal violin model which can be seen in the “Auer” of 1690.
After 1690, Stradivari set off on a new course, developing a slightly longer form for the
violin body that he continued using until nearly the turn of the 18th century. While both
Amati and Stradivari, in his early period, used a warm, golden-colored varnish of various
shades on their instruments, it was also during this period that Stradivari developed a
varnish with a deeper reddish-orange color that would become his standard.

At the onset of the 18th century, Stradivari reached what is referred to as his Golden
Period, which lasted well into the 1720s. During this time he developed and perfected
unique models and forms that would become the standard for violin makers of the future,
using a broad and flat arching and giving a squarer appearance to the center bouts. He
consistently used the choicest maple during this period and a brilliant reddish-orange
varnish of incomparable quality.
Stradivari’s sons, Francesco (1671-1743) and Omobono (1679-1742), were active in their
father’s shop by 1700 and contributed to the master’s prodigious output of violins, violas,
and cellos. Though one sees the occasional hint of their work on the violins that their
father made during his Golden Period, apparently it was their lot to do the rougher
beginning work and attend to the many other functions of an 18th-century violin making
shop. In the later 1720s and into the 1730s, the work of the sons is more obvious on
some of Antonio’s instruments, and there were a few instruments (such as the ‘Rawlins’)
with special labels indicating that they were made by others under Stradivari’s
direction. Stradivari continued to make outstanding instruments in the later 1720s until his
death in 1737. The late instruments, though not quite so accurately finished as the earlier
examples, are remarkable instruments by any standard. Many of the great soloists have
chosen late Stradivari violins for their noble and powerful tone.

A violin by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, Cremona, 1735, “Mary Portman”

Photo: Matthew Tolzmann

Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù

The Guarneri dynasty began with Andrea Guarneri (c 1624-1698), who entered the Amati
household as an apprentice in the 1640s and left the shop in the next decade to found
his own business. Andrea’s elder son, Pietro (1655-1720), established himself in Mantua,
leaving the younger son, Giuseppe (1666-1740), to take over the shop from his father. It
was Giuseppe Guarneri’s son, named Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri (1698-1744), who
was to become known by the appellation Joseph Guarnerius del Gesù and achieve true
greatness for the family.
Shop apprentices of the time started working as young as the age of eleven, so we can
assume that the young Giuseppe Guarneri was steadily learning the family craft during
the second decade of the 18th century, although the instruments made during that period
are labeled by his father. During the 1720s, a type of instrument appears from the
Guarneri shop that is considerably advanced over the previous instruments, both tonally
and visually. One sees the more forceful hand of Guarneri del  Gesù at least in part and
sometimes wholly during this time.
About 1731, Guarneri del Gesù established his own shop and began labeling instruments
with his own name. It is during this decade that he perfected the handsome and
distinctive model that is truly an original and entirely comparable alternative to the forms
used by Antonio Stradivari. The violins made during this period are exceedingly
handsome.
Toward the end of the 1730s, the violins take on a more rugged character and slightly
rougher finish. In the 1740s, the maker’s final period, he took his concept to its ultimate
extension. In the last few years of Guarneri del Gesù‘s life, he made a series of
instruments that have no rival for sheer originality and forceful execution, both visually
and tonally.

Scroll detail of the “Wieniawski” Guarneri del Gesù of 1742 (bottom) and the “Auer” Stradivari of 1690 (top)
Photo: Matthew Tolzmann

There are scarcely more than twenty-five violins still in existence from the early period of
Guarneri del Gesù‘s work. From 1731 until Guarneri’s death in 1744 there are
approximately 110 surviving instruments, bringing the total to about 135 (all violins except
for one cello). By comparison, there are approximately six hundred and fifty surviving
Stradivari instruments including mostly violins, fifty cellos, about a dozen violas, three
guitars, and a few other types of instruments. Stradivari lived nearly twice as long as
Guarneri del Gesù.
Virtually all of the makers who were trained in the Cremonese school between 1550 and
1750 made instruments of high merit. There was a system of design, construction, and
varnishing passed from one generation to the next that was fundamentally superior to the
other schools of violin making and virtually guaranteed a successful result. Most experts
believe that the varnish makes a unique contribution to an instrument’s tone. The varnish
formula used during the great period of Cremonese violin making disappeared in the
middle of the 18th century and has never been completely reproduced, despite claims
made in various quarters.

While Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù were not the only makers of the period who had
access to the varnish formula, they rose above their contemporaries by reason of a
superior conception and model that would produce the responsiveness, volume, and
quality of tone to accommodate musical performance for the next several centuries.
Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù were certainly products of a long tradition, but each was
endowed with the spark of genius that elevated his violins to works of art, masterpieces
that have become a vital component of Western musical performance at the highest
level.