Antonio Stradivari, his life and work (1644-1737) . ir followers. 200 STRADIVARIS CONSTRUCTION faulty they may have been in other respects, haveinvariably a certain originality of design, which is in manycases remarkable: outline, sound-holes, model, form ofhead—in fact, every part shows it. In the case ofStradivari, we know that he was a fine draftsman and an adept at de-signing, and heturned his capa-bilities to accountwhen sketchingout a fresh out-line. As will beseen on examin-ingtheillustrationwe give of one ofthese designs (), his practicewas to draw thecurves minus theouter edge a
Antonio Stradivari, his life and work (1644-1737) . ir followers. 200 STRADIVARIS CONSTRUCTION faulty they may have been in other respects, haveinvariably a certain originality of design, which is in manycases remarkable: outline, sound-holes, model, form ofhead—in fact, every part shows it. In the case ofStradivari, we know that he was a fine draftsman and an adept at de-signing, and heturned his capa-bilities to accountwhen sketchingout a fresh out-line. As will beseen on examin-ingtheillustrationwe give of one ofthese designs (), his practicewas to draw thecurves minus theouter edge allround— thecurves are thoseof the sides. Thesides once con-structed, heplaced them al-ternately on theslabs prepared forthe back and belly, and traced round them with an opencompass in order to obtain the margin of edge and compare the outlines of some of the principalfollowers of Amati and Stradivari, such as AndreasGuarnerius, Petrus Guarnerius of Mantua, his nephew ofVenice, Joseph Guarnerius filius Andrcce, the Rugeri. I^g- 43-—Design by Stradivari for the OutlineAND / Holes of a small Violin. THE USE OF MOULDS 201 family, Cappa, Carlo Bergonzi, Lorenzo and JoannesBaptista Guadagnini, and you will find that each onestruck out a form differing from that of his neighbour,although they were all indebted to the same source forthe foundation of their ideas. Take Petrus Guarneriuslof Mantua and Joseph Guarnerius, both sons as well asIpupils of Andrea. Once set free from their fathersworkshop, each struck out in his own direction, and pro-duced works which are stamped with originality—thoseof Petrus remarkably so. Even Carlo Bergonzi was notcontent with the unsurpassable designs of Stradivari, andseems to have taken the earliest opportunity of assertinghis freedom. In fact, from the pioneer Brescians to thelatest of the Cremonese, originality of form was ever oneof the prominent merits of the many and various makers. Were it not known that Stradivari
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