Pietro Giovanni Guarneri

(b Cremona, 18 Feb 1655; d Mantua, 26 March 1720). Eldest son of Andrea Guarneri. He is known as ‘Pietro di Mantova’ to distinguish him from his nephew (4) Pietro Guarneri. He probably began work in his father’s shop in Cremona before 1670, and indeed some of Andrea’s productions of the following years show the recognizable imprint of Pietro’s hand. In 1677 he married Caterina Sussagni, and soon afterwards left his parents’ home. By 1683 he had settled in Mantua, where he made violins and also held an appointment as a violinist in the orchestra of the Gonzaga court. This dual occupation doubtless accounts for the scarcity of his instruments. Compared with his father he was a meticulous workman, yet he retained in all the details of his work that special character which is associated with the Guarneri family. His purfling is set quite close to the edge, which is deeply and delicately worked; his scrolls appear more solid than those of his contemporaries, the ears becoming heavier as time went by (fig.1). Most distinctive are his soundholes, designed, placed and cut with great elegance. His varnish, a soft, lustrous, transparent orange-red covering, ranks with the very best. Tonally his violins have a full, rich quality, but sometimes lack edge, perhaps because of the full model: one of the best was played by Szigeti. No violas are known, and only one cello. None of his children succeeded him in his profession, nor is he known to have had pupils, though the later Mantuan makers Camilli and Balestrieri were strongly influenced by his work.