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Stradivari

Roger Hargrave examines theStradivari `Milanollo' violin of 1728,

one of the few of the master's instrumentsto keep its original sharpness

Although Antonio Stradivari's workshop produced arelatively large number of fine violins, most havebeen considerably resculptured by the passage oftime. Even where little or no damage has occurred,most of their edgework and heads have become wornthrough constant use. Accordingly, the image wehave of Stradivari's work is largely prejudiced by asoftness of form that the master never intended. Thisis a major reason for the controversy surroundingsome rare examples of his work which have retainedsomething of their original sharpness.The 1728 `Milanollo' violin is a rare example of a wellpreserved Stradivari. Its authenticity is unquestionedand it matches several instruments of the period, in-cluding the beautifully preserved 1727 `Kreutzer' vi-olin.' The condition of the edgework and headchamfers of the `Milanollo' is even finer than that ofthe `Kreutzer', which suggests that over the centuriesit has been conserved rather than played.Although the `Kreutzer' has a one piece back, the ma-terials which Stradivari selected for both instrumentsare similar beyond the point of accident. The scienceof dendrochronology (tree ring analysis) can nowmatch and date spruce and several other timbers, butunfortunately it is not yet possible to analyse maplesthis way. Nevertheless, it is a fairly safe bet that theback, head and rib wood of both violins came fromthe same tree, probably a variety of maple known asoppio. This peculiar brown speckled maple, whosenarrow flames run across the back almost at rightangles to the centre joint, is found on several Stradi-vari instruments of the period.' Even the spruce ofthe belly wood appears to match remarkably well.Certainly Stradivari preferred this kind of belly woodin his later period, when the finer grown timbers ofthe kind he used in the 1690s are largely noticeableby their absence.Stradivari was 84 in 1728, but although the `Mi-lanollo' lacks the perfection of the golden period andthe quality of the craftsmanship is somehow less

sure, evidence of a steady hand is still apparent. Signsof advancing age, which the instruments of themid1730s display, are not immediately obvious, andthe quality of the `Milanollo' and other instrumentsof the period is still way in advance of that whichmost of Stradivari's younger contemporaries wereproducing. Nevertheless, the master's advancingyears must have been taking their toll and, if thenumber of surviving instruments is any indication,the production level seems to have decreased slightlyfrom earlier times. It must be assumed that Antonio'stwo sons Francesco and Omobono, then aged 57 and49 respectively, were heavily involved in the produc-tion of the Stradivari workshop at this time and they

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may have provided the steadying hand. However, aswith Vuillaume's workshop a century later, the con-trol of the shop style was such that in this period it isextremely difficult to identify the hand of any par-ticular individual. On several labels Antonio's hand-written note records his age, implying that until theend of his life he was still the controlling influence. In1727 he writes `fatto de Anni 83' [made at the age of83] and in 1736 `d'anni 92'.The head of this violin is pristine in both workman-ship and preservation. The wood perfectly matchesthat of the back. It has a dark almost nutty hue andthe fine speckles are brown rather than silvery.Rather unusually for Stradivari it is cut slightly offthe quarter, causing the flames to appear somewhatsofter than on the back. Although strong in form andcut, the head appears to revert back to a delicacy offinish that belongs to the previous century, but thismay be an illusion created by the state of preserva-tion. Nevertheless, the boldness of the golden perioddoes seem to have given way to a more genteel ap-proach; there is, for example, no flattening to theoutline of the scroll where it faces the pegbox, asfound on the 1704 `Betts' head, although the sametemplate was undoubtedly used for both instru-ments.' Viewed from the side, the turns of the scrollare well rounded but retain the oval form commonto most Stradivari heads. The cut of the volutes hasalso been carried out in typically Stradivarian style:very shallow into the second turn with only the finalrun into the eye becoming slightly deeper. It is per-haps chiefly the quality of this cut which gives Stradi-vari heads their strength of appearance.The flutings around the back of the peg box are no-ticeably wider on the bass side, whereas on the frontof the head they are wider on the treble side. This isa feature which led Sacconi' to speculate that Stradi-vari worked with a strong source of light from oneside only. Along the back of the box the flutings areslightly rounded in section, recalling the style of theAmatis. This contrasts with the front of the head,where the flutings have the usual Stradivari flat bot-tomed profile.The spine between the flutings is unusually sharp.Only two pin marks are visible on the spine. One islocated at the centre of the chin (11.5mm from theend) and the other at the point where the pegboxnarrows sharply behind the throat (62mm from thefirst). With the usual exception of fine chisel markson the vertical surface of the bosses, and traces of ascraper in the flutings, there are almost no toolmarks on the head. The peg box interior is roomy andcleanly finished with a sharp square end under the

throat.The head chamfers are fight and evenly applied. Thechamfer of the peg box top runs neatly to the end ofthe delicate throat, emphasising its profile. A un-common amount of black lining remains on thechamfers, testifying to the instrument's state ofpreservation. This appears to have been applied be-fore the final coloured varnish.The quality and sharpness of finish of the head is re-flected in the edgework of the back and belly. Thecorners are reminiscent of the 1727 `Reyier','5 in par-ticular the purfling. The purfling whites are typicallyCremonese with tiny splits marking the surface. Par-ticularly on the back, they are somewhat lighter thanthe surrounding wood, and in places they have an al-most boxwood sheen. The blacks are well stained but,like most Stradivaris, they do not quite match the in-tensity of the Amati family blacks; in places they are

In the `Milanollo' the boldness of the golden period seems tohave given way to a more genteel approach.

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almost grey On either side of the cen-tral whites, one black strip is alwaysslightly thicker than the other, indicat-ing that the purfling was all cut from awider sandwich. That the strips wereglued together beforehand is demon-strated by the fact that in the lower basscorner of the belly all three strips havelifted out of the channel together. Insome places the groove for the purflingis unevenly cut and a little filler is evi-dent in the back channel, especially inthe corners. In two places on the lowerbouts of the back the purfling cutter hasslipped out of the channel, a rare oc-currence for Stradivari even at this latestage. In spite of these details there isevery sign (especially with the long pur-fling mitres) that Stradivari was seekingto maintain a high standard in appear-ance if not in execution. On the back thepurfling comes together at the top andbottom with diagonally cut scarf joints.These correspond with the centre jointof the back. Also at this point the pur-fling cuts through the two locating pins

which emerge on the inside of the purfling.The edgework is slightly more delicate than some ofStradivari's preceding work, especially such bold cre-ations as the 1715 `Cremonese' or the 1720 'Von Beck-erath'. On the high point of the edge almost invisibletraces of a fine scribe line can be detected on the backcorners and in the centre bouts. Such markings areonly found on instruments in exceptional condition.These scribe lines also mark the extent of the flutingin the corners and the end of the purfling mitre. Infact the purfling mitres raise up the end of the flut-ing and swing across the corners until the tips justreach the highest point of the corner at the corner ofthe flute (see diagram bottom right).On the underside of the edge there is a chamferclearly cut with a knife. This chamfer is especially ob-vious on the ends of the corners where tiny pools oforange red varnish have collected. The overhangs aresmall and even, but at the corners they increase inwidth slightly to compensate for the extra width ofthe corner. Stradivari was evidently more concernedabout the corner shapes than he was about an evenoverhang, since the overhangs sometimes increase inwidth on the outside of the rib mitres, sometimes onthe inside and occasionally on both sides. As a resultthe corners' shapes are stunningly beautiful in both

Above: the purfling comes together at the top and bottom withdiagonally cut scarf joints. Right: the head is in pristine condi-tion

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concept and cut regardless of the rib corner shapes.There is a distinct extra thickness to the edge of thecorners and also a little extra in the centre bouts.However, the edge thickness decreases sharply for afew millimetres at the point where the corners blendinto the bouts. This is a feature often observed onCremonese violins, especially the later works ofGuarneri 'del Gesu'. In the centre bouts the edgeworkis less rounded and on the extreme outer edge a halfdozen fine scratches are evidence of the raspingprocess which originally shaped the outline. Suchmarkings are more common on edgework by `delGesu'.The rib corners are finished longer and with moreturn to the centre bout curves than those by 'delGesu', but slightly less turn than those of the Amatis.The rib wood is similar to that of the back, but lighterin colour; nevertheless it appears to be from the samesource. The figure of the ribs runs vertically allaround the instrument, and the direction of thegrowth rings indicates that the top and bottom ribswere each originally made from single pieces. The ribstructure clearly tapers, but only from the neck blockup to, but not including, the top corner blocks. This

taper is only on the belly side of the ribs. The arch-ings of both the back and belly are hardly distorteddespite the apparent thinness of the plates.The flutings, though not deep, are well defined bothoutside and inside the line of the purfling. Althoughthe centre bout flutings are not finished as deeply asouter bouts and the corners, the fluting generallyruns around the instrument in a figure of eight shapemore akin to the Brothers Amati than to earlierStradivari violins.About 10 to 15mm in from the outer edge of the backthere is a slight roughness to the surface of the arch-ing. This is almost certainly the remains of theprocess of blending the fluting into the arching afterthe purfling had been inserted. Although this processis described in Sacconi's Secrets of Stradivari it is rareto see such evidence on Stradivari violins until after1730. From this point the back arching raises quicklyand is fairly full. The arching of the `Milanollo' isclosely related to the 'del Gesu' 1740s archings, whichare generally referred to as being of Brescian influ-

The purfling mitres raise up the end of the fluting and swingacross the corners until the tips just reach the highest point(shown by the dotted line)

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ence. There are a number of scraper marks on theback arching which were probably not visible beforewear to the varnish accentuated them.The belly arching has hardly any flatteningalong the top, although it rises far moresteeply than the back at each end. Theflutings are similar in concept tothose of the back, but there are notool marks except in the extremeends of the f- hole wings, where atiny gouge has formed the hollow-ing. The flutings of the lowerwings run alongside the bodies ofthe f holes, where they blend intothe arching a little earlier than on pre-vious works.

Nevertheless the subtle 'evebrow' effectaround the upper, outer edge of the f-holebodies is still apparent.The f holes have been cut in the usualStradivari manner. The top and bot-tom circles have been made with acircular cutter, and the body of thef bole has been cut almost atright angles to the body of theplate. The lower wings are nar-rower and trumpet slightly atthe ends, a feature of Stradi-vari's 1720s period. On theinside of the f holes thereare pin marks set at about1.75mm from the tips ofthe wings. These pin holesare from the dividerswhich were used to fix theposition of the f holenicks. Alongside the nicksthere are scratches fromthe opposing point ofthe dividers, two onthe outer edge of thebass f hole and one onthe inner edge. On thetreble f hole there isone on the outer edgeand none on the inner. Such markings on the interiorof the belly indicate that it has retained its originalthickness.The interior work is coarser than earlier Stradivariinstruments but is still much cleaner than most otherCremonese work. Rasped and roughly cut linings areset into more cleanly cut mortices in the corner

blocks. The corner blocks have been rasped, ratherthan chiselled, to a flat surface. The ribs themselvesare virtually free of tool marks, although there are

traces of a knife or a rasp which was used totrim back the linings. The top block,

which is original, has three nailholes.

The varnish, present in largeamounts, is a red browncolour and of admirabletransparency, which con-trasts with the more opaquevarnishes of Stradivari'scontemporary JosephGuarneri. It appears to have

sunk into the belly woodaround the f holes. There is lit-

tle disparity between theground and the varnish. The nat-

ural darkness of the wood comple-ments the varnish, and the overall

effect is warm, dark, rich and slightlysensuous. While this description also ade-

quately describes the sound of the `Mi-lanollo', this violin is capable of producing a

clean aggressive light sound and all shades inbetween as well.

The `Milanollo' was once owned by the doublebassist Domenico Dragonetti, who probably pur-

chased it for the virtuoso jean Baptiste Viotti in1794. When Dragonetti died in 1846 he be-queathed the instrument to the Italian violin-

ist Teresa Milanollo; he stated in his testamentthat it was once played by Paganini. Milanollo was 19when she inherited the violin and she and heryounger sister Maria, a fellow violinist, appeared inconcert together throughout Europe to great ac-claim. After Milanollo's death in 1904 the violin wassold by Hills for the heirs of a Mr Ratnagar of Bombay.

In 1967 it returned to Europe where it was pur-chased by the French violinist Christian Ferras, andwith the death of Ferras in 1990 it became the prop-erty of Pierre Amoyal. The violin recently spent abrief time in its native Italy before moving to itspresent owner in Switzerland.

The turns of the scroll are wellrounded but retain the ovalform common to most Stradi-vari head