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Italian family of string instrument makers. They were active from about 1739 until the middle of the 20th century. Lorenzo Guadagnini (b Cerignale, Piacenza, 22 Dec 1685; d Piacenza, 15 June 1746) changed his surname from ‘Guagnini’ between 1710 and 1716. His first 50 years were spent moving from village to village in the Val Tidone region, to the south-west of Piacenza. He moved to Piacenza in 1739, after his son Giovanni Battista had moved there, but by 1741 was living elsewhere. Lorenzo is again documented in Piacenza in 1743 and 1746.

There is no evidence that Lorenzo ever went to Cremona or worked for Stradivari, notwithstanding a very small number of labels on which he described himself as ‘alumnus Antonii Stradivarii’, nor is there anything about his violins to link them to Stradivari in details of workmanship. Furthermore, if he did make violins on his own, it was only for a very few years, during his sporadic residences at Piacenza in 1740 or 1743. The edgework on those instruments credited to him is deeply grooved, the arch of the back tending to rise to a peak, and the scrolls, while magnificent, are carved without the slightest attempt at symmetry. These characteristics continue in the work of Gaspare Lorenzini of Piacenza, who claimed on his labels to have been a pupil.

Lorenzo’s son, Giovanni Battista [also known as J.B. from the latinized form used in his labels, Johannes Baptista] Guadagnini (b Bilegno, Val Tidone, 23 June 1711; d Turin, 18 Sept 1786), was the most important violin maker of the family. His long working life, large output and extended itinerary led many past writers to believe that there were two makers named Giovanni Battista. His violins are the most highly prized of the mid- to late 18th-century Italian instruments (see illustration). His early years were spent with his father. In January 1738 he moved to Piacenza and commenced making violins a year or two later. From 1740 to 1749 he made instruments which give the impression of a neat, young, and comparatively unpractised hand. From the beginning he sometimes used a red varnish of an extremely bright tint, the usual colour being a cooler orange-brown. By the time he left Piacenza the character of his violins was already defined, though their basic appearance would continue to evolve. The outline was Stradivarian, though with slightly sloping shoulders, perpendicular soundholes, and scrolls without a trace of classical design, yet with flowing spirals and cut with great character. In Piacenza Guadagnini met several individuals who profoundly influenced his career, including the violinist and violin maker Giuseppe Nadotti, and especially the cellist Carlo Ferrari and his brother Paolo, a violinist: both highly regarded local musicians. During his years in Piacenza, Guadagnini developed a cello model, typically about 4 cm shorter in body length than that of Stradivari, certainly the result of his collaboration with Carlo Ferrari. The string length of these cellos is normal, and their good width and very deep sides make them excellent to play. Guadagnini continued to make cellos on this pattern well into the 1760s.

Guadagnini’s subsequent movements follow closely on those of Carlo Ferrari, who moved to Milan in the mid-1740s and attained the position of solo cellist in the orchestra of the Regio Ducal Teatro. In September 1749 Guadagnini also moved to Milan. Those who admire the results of a natural uninhibited Italian flair for the art of violin making tend to prefer his work of this period. A splendid choice of wood was available for the instrument backs, and the violins are often covered with a varnish with the colour and transparency of red wine. The lobes of the soundholes had gradually evolved into a pear shape in Piacenza; this shape is characteristic of the Milan period works and remained unvaried from 1753 to 1776. They are also characterized by a direct, powerful sound, but without the range of colour or warmth of quality of certain other makes.

About a dozen violins dated 1758 exist bearing labels from Cremona and having unique characteristics in common. No documentary evidence has been found that Guadagnini actually resided in that city, although he might well have passed through on his way to Parma. These violins resemble those of the Milan period, but the shoulders slope a little more from the button of the back, and the varnish has an orange shade a little different from the colours seen in other towns. By early 1759 he had settled in Parma, where he remained until May 1771. The Ferrari brothers had found lucrative employment at the court of Duke Philip of Bourbon in the early 1750s. Guadagnini entered the official court payroll in 1766 but was informally employed well before that date. One type of Guadagnini's labels from this period bear the monogram CSR (‘Celsitude Serenisima Realis’: ‘His Serene Royal Highness’) in reference to the reigning Duke. However, after a short time in Parma he used neither the fine wood nor the lustrous varnish of his previous work, and a certain meanness is evident in details, particularly the scrolls. The maple he used, a narrow-flamed wood grown in the region, is not handsome but acoustically excellent, and was used by most Cremonese makers at one time or another. The varnish is an unexciting brown-red. Another curiosity of the instruments from Parma is his soundholes, which rise higher and higher on the table on violins dated up to about 1768; on later instruments they gradually drop again, until by about 1773 they have returned to their original position. As the soundholes are placed higher the notches, traditionally used to mark out the position of the bridge, are cut lower. This feature is unique in violin making. Whether it was intended for acoustical reasons or from some quirk in his working methods is unknown. Also at this time, he described himself on his labels as ‘Cremonensis’, rather than ‘Placentinus’, doubtless for the sake of prestige; in Turin, this self-made myth appears in every official document.

By the summer or autumn of 1771 he had settled in Turin. By 1773, he made the acquaintance of the violin collector Count Cozio di Salabue. Under a formal arrangement lasting from December 1773 until May 1777 Cozio was Guadagnini’s exclusive patron, supplying the wood and acquiring virtually all of his production – at least 50 violins, two violas and two or three cellos. Guadagnini continued to repair and sell violins for Cozio after their contract lapsed. In 1775–6 Cozio bought the collection of Antonio Stradivari's violins and workshop relics belonging to the master's son Paolo, Guadagnini acting as intermediary. The violins were almost all modernized by Guadagnini and, perhaps, they inspired the radical changes that Guadagnini introduced to the manufacture of his own violins, of which the most important was the adoption of the Stradivari outline and form of soundhole. Only the scrolls remained stylistically independent, though they now had their chamfers finished in black. Varnish became important once more, and the red colour increasingly noticeable. The wood, too, was handsome as well as acoustically sound. Guadagnini's Turin period is also marked by a small-model viola, with a body length of 40 cm; until then he had made only a handful of violas.

His sons may have collaborated with him during his later years, but, like Stradivari, Guadagnini preferred to give his personal stamp to his productions. From 1778 his work is that of an old man striving to imitate Stradivari, and with great success: these instruments have a full and loud tone equalled by few others. On his late Turin labels, in addition to ‘Cremonensis’, Guadagnini described himself as ‘alumnus Antonii Stradivari’, perhaps out of respect for the great maker but more probably for commercial reasons. It was 100 years before makers began to deliberately copy G.B. Guadagnini’s work. The lack of recognition for his violins explains the confusion among 19th-century writers about his life. Good copies have been made by some modern Italian makers, and the early 20th-century Berlin school produced some clever fakes, as did the Vollers in London.

Giuseppe Guadagnini, known as ‘Il Soldato’ (b Milan, 18 April 1753; d Pavia, 28 Aug 1805), was the third surviving son of G.B. Guadagnini. He worked independently of his father from perhaps the late 1770s. Much of his work cannot be accurately dated, though original labels are known from 1780 in Como and after 1790 from Pavia. Although he was clearly trained by his father, his conception of violin making and the quality of his work was much inferior, and the results seldom justify any kind of comparison.

Gaetano (i) (b Milan, 1 June 1750; d Turin, 5 Feb 1817) and his youngest brother Carlo (b Parma, 3 Nov 1768; d Turin, 20 Nov 1816) were sons and the principal successors of Giovanni Battista. Gaetano began to work for his father after the family moved to Turin in 1771, and by 1777 he was his father's chief assistant in completing orders, running the workshop and writing correspondence. Several late instruments of Giovanni Battista show evidence of Gaetano’s collaboration. After his father’s death he continued the business, eventually bringing his younger brother Carlo into the shop; by the early 1790s they were known as the ‘Fratelli Guadagnini’. They enjoyed great fame as the principal guitar makers in Turin, although an occasional violin does survive. While their work is of fine quality, in commerce they had the misfortune of coming into their own just as the French Revolution and Napoleon sent a chill through all musical endeavours in Piedmont, and when Count Cozio heard of their activities in 1816 he noted that they were working ‘but not well’, a clear reference to the economic climate. The emergence of French instrument making workshops in Turin at this time, and perhaps also of makers such as D’Espine and Pressenda, may owe some debt to them.

After Carlo’s death, Gaetano (i) turned over the control of the business to his nephew, Gaetano (ii) (b Turin, 30 Nov 1796; d Turin, 2 Mar 1852), during whose tenure the shop on the piazza S Carlo became the pre-eminent musical instrument shop in the city. His clientele included musicians of the major theatres and opera orchestras, as well as the fledgling Accademia Filarmonica. He also acted as an agent for J.-B. Vuillaume of Paris. He too was well known and respected for his exceptional guitars, and he also made some violins.

Under Antonio Guadagnini (b Turin, 19 Aug 1831; d Turin, 31 Dec 1881), the eldest son of Gaetano (ii) and his successor, the family business enjoyed its greatest years commercially. Finely crafted but very diverse instruments are known bearing his label. He also was known for repairs and instrument dealing, and maintained at one time a large and distinguished workshop, including such makers as the Melegari brothers, Enrico Marchetti, and Maurice Mermillot. Antonio's son Francesco (b Turin, 27 July 1863; d Turin, 15 Dec 1948) was the last important maker in the family. He continued the successes of his father to the end of the century, but by then he faced serious competition from the vigorous violin making community in Turin. After the beginning of the 20th century his work was primarily in the making of new instruments (including guitars), all of excellent quality but less impressive than those being made by some of his rivals. During World War II his workshop closed after being destroyed in a bombing raid, and after the death in action of his son Paolo (b Turin, 2 May 1908, d at sea on the Mediterranean, 30 April 1942), the Guadagnini dynasty came to an end.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

E.N. Doring: The Guadagnini Family of Violin Makers (Chicago,1949)

A.H. König, ed.: Die Geigenbauer der Guadagnini-Familie. Die Turiner Schule (Frankfurt, 1981)

G. Fiori: ‘Documenti biografici di artisti e personaggi piacentini dal ’600 all’ ’800 nell’Archivo Vescovile di Piacenza’, Strenna piacentina (1994), 67–111

P.J. Kass: Violin Makers of the Piedmontese School (in preparation)

D. Rosengard: G.B. Guadagnini (in preparation)

CHARLES BEARE/PHILIP J. KASS, DUANE ROSENGARD

© Oxford University Press 2007