The Piedmontese
Violin Makers

The volume traces the most ancient history of violin making in Piedmont, from the arrival of the first authors of German origin in the first half of the seventeenth century, to the creation of a real school with clearly identifiable peculiarities. The itinerary ends with the arrival of Giovanni Battista Guadagnini in 1771 and the French luthiers following the annexation of Piedmont to France at the end of the century.

The heart of the book is the extensive iconographic collection: more than 300 photographs portray thirty-eight instruments, among the most representative and almost all unpublished. The images show the processing techniques of each individual luthier, the stylistic characteristics and the periods of production, constituting together a formidable tool of knowledge and a precious map for future investigations and attributions.

To illustrate the 'historical setting is the introductory text, a real insight into the culture of the time: the period in which the Piedmontese authors worked is told in depth, and their personal stories are inserted in the social, political and cultural fresco outlined. A large and complex part is dedicated to the biographies of the luthiers and the description of their work, both in terms of style and techniques. Up to now only a few protagonists of this territory had been the subject of short essays which appeared in specialized magazines; but here, for the first time, the research carried out by the author in 30 years of organological and archival investigations is published. For this purpose, many public and private archives throughout Europe have been sifted, a work that has made it possible to collect about 900 documents concerning the life of these luthiers.

All those who have worked in the period of interest, among which some so far totally unknown (Gioacchino Torano, Francesca Maria Giorgis, Francesco Lione), and others of which there was very little news (Andrea Gatto, Spirito Sorsana), clarifying the dates of their life and their movements.

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