Antonio Stradivari

Overview

Antonio Stradivari of Cremona is the name against which every other violin maker is measured. He worked in Cremona from the 1660s until his death in 1737, and brought the Cremonese instrument to a point of consistency in model, arching and finish that has been studied and copied ever since. His violins and cellos are played by leading soloists, held by museums and foundations, and stand at the top of the market.

Life and work

Documentation of his early years is thin: no baptismal record survives, and his training is inferred rather than proven. His earliest known labels date from the 1660s, and by 1680 he was established in his own house on the Piazza San Domenico in Cremona. He worked with his sons Francesco and Omobono, outlived them, and died in Cremona in 1737.

Workshop and location

Cremona, Italy. The shop was a family business with apprentices and, later, his sons; it produced violins, cellos and other stringed instruments, and the output was large enough that instruments from different decades show distinctly different hands.

School and style

Cremonese school, growing out of the Amati tradition. The instruments of the 1690s, often called the long pattern, and the work of the following two decades are generally taken as his mature standard; later violins are less consistent and are attributed in part to his sons.

Labels and brands

The Latin form of his name with the year is used on original labels, and the same wording has been reproduced on an enormous number of later instruments. A label with his name is therefore one of the least reliable pieces of evidence in the trade, and carries no weight on its own.

Instruments in the market

Several hundred instruments are attributed to him, and a number are held in public collections and museums, including the Museo del Violino in Cremona. Because so many survive and so many copies exist, individual histories matter: provenance, and the opinion of a recognised authority, count for more than the label.

Authentication notes

The most heavily faked name in the violin trade. Any instrument offered as his work requires expert examination of the wood, the varnish and the workmanship, together with documentation and a certificate from a recognised authority. This page is reference material and is not an authentication.