The strings

Although nearly three hundred years of use have inevitably worn the surface of this violin, the first thing that strikes you when picking it up is its varnish: a deep, vibrant red, perfectly transparent, appearing both thin and rich at the same time. It is a Venetian varnish modified according to the refined taste that Cremonese luthiers had developed over two hundred years of experience and tradition. The body model is an original by Pietro, designed from the Guarneri family models but redesigned in a personal way: particularly characteristic is the design of the C-bouts and the corners, which clearly deviates from the Cremonese tradition in which Pietro was trained and instead suggests a comparison with the contemporary work of his brother, Giuseppe, the luthier famous today by the nickname "Guarneri del Gesù."

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the cello did not yet have a precise musical connotation, nor well-defined measurements and lutherie characteristics: in Cremona, the main luthiers had experimented with instruments of various sizes and had generally settled on the dimensions considered optimal today, of which Stradivari's "Forma B" model is cited as the paradigm. Outside of Cremona, however, luthiers continued to build cellos of various sizes: in Venice, for example, large instruments were made throughout the first half of the eighteenth century, and many of these cellos are still in use today after having their bodies reworked and reduced in size. Living in a center with great musical activity not far from Cremona, Rogeri must have been informed about the trends developed by the Rugeri, Guarneri, and Stradivari families, and was likely also attentive to the requests of the musicians he worked for, who were beginning to take an interest in instruments capable of allowing them a level of virtuosity that, until a few decades earlier, cellists did not expect to achieve. This cello features a sound box slightly shorter than the measurement the Cremonese luthiers had established as ideal, but the width between the C-bouts, conversely, is greater. To give an idea, the model Stradivari used during this period is 75.6 cm long and 23 cm wide at the center; this one by Rogeri is 73.4 cm long and 25 cm wide. The greater width of the body compensates for the shorter length: the internal volume of the instrument remains very similar to that of a Stradivari. The comfort offered by a shorter body is balanced by the reduced space for the bow caused by the width at the center. In Rogeri's time, the bridge provided more space between the strings than is used today, and the width of the body did not pose a problem for the musician. With the evolution of cello technique in the nineteenth century, the bridge became higher and narrower, and this body width now represents a limit above which using the instrument would be somewhat cumbersome. The instrument is made entirely of excellent quality wood: the soundboard is in two pieces of straight-grained spruce of ideal width; the back, ribs, and head are made of maple with a very pronounced and regular flame, which on the back slopes toward the sides and is also quite slanted on the ribs. The arching is masterfully executed, and the choice of thicknesses is personal, based on Rogeri's own experience rather than the repetition of traditional patterns and measurements from his Cremonese masters and predecessors.

For many years, this violin was considered the work of Giovanni Battista Rogeri and dated to the early eighteenth century. This attribution stems from the label inside the instrument, a printed label that is certainly old and quite credible, bearing the name of Giovanni Battista and, added by hand in pen, the date 1701. In reality, the style of the instrument clearly points to the hand of his son, Pietro Giacomo. Perhaps the most revealing characteristic of Pietro Giacomo's style is the corners—very long and hook-like in appearance—which nevertheless follow the profile of the rib corners; this part was executed with remarkable technical mastery, following a deliberately extreme design that develops an idea Cremonese luthiers had long contemplated and which was still being debated during the period this violin was made. One only needs to consider how, during those same years, Stradivari, Bergonzi, and Guarneri del Gesù devised three different and personal solutions, moving in the opposite direction to the one chosen by Rogeri. Another highly personal stylistic aspect is the model of the soundholes, correctly positioned in the Cremonese tradition but with a profile that instead recalls the style Venetian luthiers would develop in later years: the stems turn back toward the upper and lower eyes, defining wings that end with a side almost parallel to the instrument's central centerline, whereas in a classic Cremonese instrument, this terminal side would be closer to 45°. The width of the stem, thin and almost constant, also reveals the maker's personality and the originality of his research.

This Giovanni Paolo Maggini viola is over 400 years old and is the oldest instrument in the Fondazione pro Canale collection. In Maggini's time, instruments in the violin family were in the early stages of their history and standardized measurements didn't exist yet: violas, in particular, were mostly built in a much larger size than what is used today. Given its dimensions, this viola is especially significant as it is one of the oldest examples of a size close to what we consider standard today.

A work from Antonio Stradivari's mature period, this violin is a masterpiece that fully represents the level of excellence the Cremonese master achieved during his golden years. The instrument bears a printed label with the text Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat and a handwritten date, which currently reads 1716. In reality, a stylistic comparison of the violin with other Stradivarian works suggests moving its construction date back by about a decade: the date was likely originally 1706 and was altered, perhaps even just in a clumsy attempt to make it more legible after the ink had faded. This history is evidenced by a nineteenth-century description of the instrument in the manuscript notes of the Parisian luthier Charles-Eugène Gand, and even more directly by a photograph taken during a restoration in 1967.

Antonio Stradivari's first violins date back to 1666, when the luthier was 22 years old. For a long time, Antonio built instruments while remaining faithful to the Cremonese style defined by Nicolò Amati, and it was only starting in 1690 that he began to deviate from traditional models, modifying the dimensions and the pattern of his violins' soundboxes. This period of experimentation lasted until the early 1700s, when the Cremonese Master stabilized the length of his violin model, combining it with a newly conceived profile and, above all, a development of the arching and thicknesses of the top and back that were both original and revolutionary. It is customary to attribute the date 1702 to this violin, but due to the choice of materials, the soundbox model, and other details, the instrument recalls other Stradivarian works from the initial period of his experimental journey, around 1690. It is possible that the instrument's back and ribs were built at one time, and the soundboard and head at another, in the Stradivari workshop, perhaps as replacements for previous ones.

This violin is a masterpiece by Santo Serafino, a highly skilled Venetian luthier who was particularly attentive to detail and the finesse of his craftsmanship. In choosing his models, Santo's work was generally inspired by the work of the Amati family of Cremona: this violin in particular is explicitly built on the model of an instrument by the Amati Brothers, luthiers active more than a century earlier, as evidenced by an internal label that Santo had specially printed, which reads: Ad exemplar Antonii & Hieronymi Amati Cremonensium. Above this label, Serafino's standard label is also present, dated 1740.