GIOVANNI BAPTISTA GUADAGNINI

It would appear to the casual observer that Giovanni Battista Guadagnini was a violin maker with a touch of wanderlust. Having worked in Piacenza, Milan, Parma and finally Turin, he developed a distinctive style based on his interpretations of the work by Antonio Stradivari. The results were violins that are tonally superior to many of his contemporaries. Guadagnini's early pieces from Piacenza represent works from a violin maker whose craft is already firmly developed. His masterful and individualistic style-seen here in the signature oval shape of the F holes' lower lobes and the undercutting on the volute-illustrate a maker who was very quick and deft in his tool handling skills. His illustrious red varnish, both brilliant and transparent, is of a quality that could incite jealousy in any contemporary maker.