Bowed string instruments have a long history that stretches well beyond Europe. Instruments played with a bow appear in centuries-old paintings and pottery from many different civilizations. But there is no doubt that the violin we recognize today originated in mid-1500s Cremona, Italy, from the hand of Andrea Amati. Andrea’s grandson, Nicola Amati, enlarged the pattern and refined the design, and he is traditionally credited with passing his knowledge on to Antonio Stradivari and Andrea Guarneri, founder of the Guarneri family of makers. In short order, other famous makers emerged in Cremona, with Carlo Bergonzi being the most prominent. Cremona quickly became famous throughout Europe and beyond. Indeed, this Golden Age of violin making produced the greatest violins the world has ever known.
By the middle of the 18th century, the great Cremonese masters were gone. Stradivari died in 1737, Giuseppe Guarneri “del Gesù” in 1744, and Carlo Bergonzi in 1747. Cremona lost its former prominence, and other Italian cities carried the tradition forward. Venice, Milan, and Naples already had thriving schools of their own, and Giovanni Battista Guadagnini worked in several cities, including Milan, Parma, and Turin. In the 19th century, Turin became the next great Italian center of violin making, led by makers such as Giovanni Francesco Pressenda and Giuseppe Rocca.
Meanwhile, violin making north of the Alps was growing quickly. In Germany and France, organized guilds, close proximity to forests full of tonewood, and expanding trade routes helped workshop centers such as Mittenwald, Markneukirchen, and Mirecourt meet the rising demand for violins across an increasingly wealthy Europe. These well-made workshop instruments had a huge effect on the Italian market, where violins were still handcrafted by individual makers. Apart from a few great names, Italy was largely eclipsed.
Today, Cremona is once again a bustling and prestigious violin making center, having returned to the roots of violin making as practiced by the great Cremonese masters of the Golden Age. Because the workshop production model largely bypassed Cremona, the traditional way of making violins has enjoyed a renaissance there. The International Violin Making School of Cremona opened in 1938 and has produced great makers ever since. In 2012, UNESCO recognized traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and the city’s Museo del Violino, opened in 2013, celebrates this living legacy.
As in the earlier era, Cremona has had a profound influence on modern violin making, with similar schools opening in Parma, Milan, and other centers. Italian makers continue to focus strictly on individual handcraft techniques, from wood selection to varnish work, and avoid production processes altogether. Violin making is alive and well in Italy, with some of the greatest makers in the world working there today. A modern violin from a well-known Italian maker is held in the highest esteem by today’s players and collectors, and these instruments regularly command some of the highest prices in the market for new violins. If you’re searching for a fine instrument of your own, explore our Fine & Timeless Violins.
Thank you for reading! To learn more about the string instrument making traditions of Europe, read our post on The German Violin Making Tradition.
