Antonio Stradivari, his life and work (1644-1737) . being broken up in a most picturesque manner by timeand use. The \car 1716 will ever be a memorable year of Stradi-varis life, for, as previously stated, we are indebted to it for that remarkableviolin known as theMessie, whichstands alone for itsunrivalled it but eigrhtdays, instead of onehundred and ninety-three years old, itcould not present afresher seems toha\e awakened to thefact that his work hadassumed an air ofbreadth and soliditythroughout, which,treated by less skil-ful hands, would havebordered
Antonio Stradivari, his life and work (1644-1737) . being broken up in a most picturesque manner by timeand use. The \car 1716 will ever be a memorable year of Stradi-varis life, for, as previously stated, we are indebted to it for that remarkableviolin known as theMessie, whichstands alone for itsunrivalled it but eigrhtdays, instead of onehundred and ninety-three years old, itcould not present afresher seems toha\e awakened to thefact that his work hadassumed an air ofbreadth and soliditythroughout, which,treated by less skil-ful hands, would havebordered on theclumsy. He thereforedetermined to retracehis steps, and imme-diately gives us,amongst others, anexample which forlightness of build takes us back ten years. Once made,he never parted with it. Death came, and the violinpassed successively to his sons Francesco and Paolo;the latter retained it until 1775, in which year he sold r. Fig. 21. —Edge, Purfling, and Sound-holeOF THE Example known as the Dol-phin, MADE IN 1714. THE MESSIE AND THE CESSOL 67 it to Count Cozio di Salabue.* The character of thework of the Messie is as exceptional as its , edges, and corners are treated differently toanything we have hitherto seen or shall hereafter see ; themodel is flat, that of the belly most noticeably so ; thesharp, unrounded edge, and slanting, youthful sound-holes, are admirably shown in our illustration (fig. 22).Critics may say these marked peculiarities of style aredue to its freshness. That is true only inasmuch asit accentuates them. Other specimens exist sufficientlywell preserved to indicate clearly the makers intentions,and the most appropriate for present comparison is theMedici violin, preserved with the Tuscan tenor andvioloncello at the Musical Institute in Florence. It is ofthe same year and is in remarkable preservation, thoughnot perfect; yet it differs in form, dimensions, model,
Size: 1391px × 1796px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondonmacmillanand
