Giovanni Battista Guadagnini

Overview

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, born in the family of makers at Bilegno and later working in Piacenza, Milan, Parma and finally Turin, is the last of the great Italian makers whose instruments remain in regular concert use. His work carries the Cremonese tradition into the later eighteenth century, and his violins and cellos are valued for response and tone rather than for show.

Life and work

He moved several times, and the move to Turin in the 1770s came with the support of the collector Count Cozio di Salabue, who took a large part of his output. The Turin years are generally regarded as his finest. He died in Turin in 1786.

Workshop and location

Turin, Italy, after earlier periods in Piacenza, Milan and Parma. The changes of city are useful in dating his work, since the instruments differ between periods.

School and style

Cremonese tradition filtered through the later Italian schools, with the flat, wide model and a dark red-brown varnish that are associated with his Turin work. The making is direct and economical, and the instruments are known for immediate response.

Labels and brands

Original labels usually give his name with the city, which helps to place an instrument, but the name has also been applied to many workshop and trade instruments. Treat the label as one clue among several.

Instruments in the market

Violins from the Turin period and his cellos are the most sought after, and the number of instruments in professional use is unusually high for an eighteenth-century maker.

Authentication notes

Distinguishing his own work from that of his father Lorenzo, his son Gaetano and the wider family is a specialist matter, and the city named on the label should agree with the character of the instrument. This page is reference material and is not an authentication.