Antonio Stradivari, his life and work (1644-1737) . fectually proves that he was his own designer. Thesearms, delicately cut out in mother-of-pearl, were inlaid inthe finger-boards of the set of instruments made for Cosimode Medici in 1690 ; the charming cupid design was for thetail-pieces. Of the set the Menore alone remains in itsoriginal state as left by the maker, and can be seen at theMusical Institute in Florence. We get further confirmatory evidence of Stradivarishaving executed these embellishments himself from thevaluable writings of the Cremonese monk Arisi, who wasan intimate friend
Antonio Stradivari, his life and work (1644-1737) . fectually proves that he was his own designer. Thesearms, delicately cut out in mother-of-pearl, were inlaid inthe finger-boards of the set of instruments made for Cosimode Medici in 1690 ; the charming cupid design was for thetail-pieces. Of the set the Menore alone remains in itsoriginal state as left by the maker, and can be seen at theMusical Institute in Florence. We get further confirmatory evidence of Stradivarishaving executed these embellishments himself from thevaluable writings of the Cremonese monk Arisi, who wasan intimate friend of the master, and who, as Hart re-marks, gained his knowledge of the facts from Stradivarihimself Arisi* says : - His fame is unequalled as a makof mstruments of the finest qualities, and he has of extraordinary beauty, ornamented with small* Hart, The Violin : its Famous Makers, etc., p. 175. :erle INLAID INSTRUMENTS 75 figures, flowers, fruits, arabesques, and gracefully inlaidfanciful ornnments, all in perfect drawing, which he some-. times paints in black or inlays with ebony and ivory, all ofwhich are executed with the <^reatest skill, rendering them 76 STRADIVARIS VIOLINS worthy of the exalted personages to whom they areintended to be presented. How many of these inlaid instruments Siradivari madewe know not. Probabilities point to there having beenbut few of them, and made only on exceptional occasions. They were destined for hismost illustrious patrons,and the remuneration musthave been in accordancewith the time and painsbestowed uponsuchfinishcdwork. Stradivari states onthe designs above men-tioned that they served forthe instruments made totheorder of the Marquis Car-bonelli of Mantua, but <Mvesneither date nor inforn^ationas to their number. Hartgives the year 1687 as thatin which Stradivaii madethe beautiful set of inlaidinstruments for the SpanishCourt; but, as we shall seehereafter, this statement iserroneous. It we again refer to Arisi,we .earn
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