Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1716, the 'Medici, Tuscan'
Violin: 41407
Bearing its original label, "Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis / faciebat anno 1716."
Back: Two-piece of wide-grain maple
Ribs: Maple matching back
Varnish: Golden-red
Length of back: 35.7 cm
Upper bouts: 16.6 cm
Lower bouts: 20.7 cm
There are 3 additional images in the archive which are not available publicly. Please contact us for more information.
Notes:
"Displayed at Stradivari's 250-year anniversary in Cremona in 1987. This instrument figures in Fetis's book "Stradivarius," published in 1856, as one of the maker's finest works. It is not clear how this instrument became part of the Medici collection. Perhaps it was made as a replacement for one of the 1690 quintet. In the 1850's, there was a dispute concerning this instrument, where some claimed that it was a forgery by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, but its authenticity was eventually reasserted."Capolavori di Antonio Stradivari, Charles Beare, Charles Beare, Capolavori di Antonio Stradivari, Milan
"I am not saying that the 1716 violin is not a Strad -- though it has been challenged by some -- but I have done a fair amount of research in the Florence archives and found no record of the 1716 Stradivari ever being in the Medici collection. There is no record of it in Florence before the mid-19th century. So, stating that the 1716 violin is one of the Medici instruments is nonsense from my point of view."
Messiah Redux, Stewart Pollens, Journal of the Violin Society of America, Vol. XVII, No. 3, Flushing, NY
"The violin remained part of the court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany after the death in 1737 of Gian Gastone de’ Medici, the last Medicean Grand Duke of Tuscany, as is confirmed by the inventories of 1829 and 1846, and it was handed down to the Florentine Royal Music Institute in 1861."
Stradivari's Medici Quintet, part 2, Cozio Carteggio feature, Alessandra Barabaschi
Provenance
| from c. 1816 | Court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany |
| from 1861 | Istituto Cherubini, Florence |
Certificates & Documents
- Dendrochronology report: Elio Corona (2000) Dating the youngest tree ring to 1697.
- Dendrochronology report: Andrea Gatti (2000) Dating the youngest tree ring to 1697.
Cozio holds copies of many certificates and other documents, some of which are available to view on request. Please contact us if you wish to view a particular document. (Note that we do not always have permission to share documents.)
References
Antichi Strumenti: Collezioni dei Medici e dei Lorena (Conservatorio di Musica Luigi Cherubini), Giunti - Barbèra, Florence (illustrated)- Antonio Stradivari: His Life & Work (1644-1737), W. Henry, Arthur F. & Alfred E. Hill, William E. Hill & Sons, London, 1902
- Capolavori di Antonio Stradivari, Charles Beare, Arnoldo Mondadori S.p.A., Milan (illustrated)
- L'Esposizione di Liuteria Antica a Cremona nel 1937, Comitato Stradivariano, Cremona (illustrated)
- Journal of the Violin Society of America, Vol. XVII, No. 3, Stewart Pollens, The Queens College Press, Flushing, NY
- Mostra di Antonio Stradivari (Palazzo Borromeo - Isola Bella), Turris Editrice, Cremona (illustrated)
- Stradivari Varnish: Scientific Analysis of his Finishing Technique on Selected Instruments, Brigitte Brandmair & Stefan-Peter Greiner (illustrated)
- Stradivari's Medici Quintet, part 2, Cozio Carteggio feature, Alessandra Barabaschi (illustrated)
- Stradivari’s Medici Quintet, part 1, Cozio Carteggio feature, Alessandra Barabaschi (illustrated)
- Violin Iconography of Antonio Stradivari 1644-1737, Herbert K. Goodkind, Larchmont, NY (illustrated)
- The Strad, October, 1952, London
Antichi Strumenti: Collezioni dei Medici e dei Lorena (Conservatorio di Musica Luigi Cherubini), Giunti - Barbèra, Florence (illustrated)
