Benedetto Gioffredo Rinaldi

Violin maker
(1822 – 1888)

Benedetto Gioffredo was initially employed as a shoe maker, and took up the violin trade seriously only after relocating to Turin in 1852 with his wife Paola. In 1855 his father-in-law Teobaldo Rinaldi joined them, presumably to help run the shop thereafter known as 'Gioffredo-Rinaldi,' or simply 'Rinaldi,' which Gioffredo adopted as a sort of surname over the course of his career. He worked briefly ...Read More for the Nicolò Bianchi in Paris starting in around 1860, but Bianchi did not think especially highly of Gioffredo's skills as a violin maker, and even after returning to Turin in 1868 he devoted most of his time to repair and restoration work, and dealing.

He is also known for a pamphlet he authored on Pressenda, who was Turin's most renowned maker at the time. The book became a popular reference for those interested in the origins of the Turin school, but many of the claims put forth in it are exaggerated or dubious, which has caused some confusion, especially with regard to the relationship between Pressenda and Lorenzo Storioni. In general Gioffredo 'Rinaldi' the violin maker has a less important role in the history of the Turin school than his workshop, which trained the important Piedmontese makers Enrico Marchetti, Carlo Oddone, and Romano Marengo, who took over the Rinaldi workshop in 1888. Read Less