Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/357

 STRADIVARI

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STRADIVARI

Mother of God as she sinks dying into the arms of n Apostle. Another altar of his in this church has 'he fine qualities of this work, e.speciall\ the anima- ion of the portrayal and the efTeotive composition, btained for him in 1492 the commis.sion of making lie tomb of King CasimirlVin the Cathedral of Cra- ow. Probably, however, he only prepared the de- ign of the marble sarcophagus; the king is represented 1 his coronation robes, while statuettes showing the eople ;is mourners are placed on the sides. For un- nown reasons Stoss returned to Nuremberg, where he ccomplished a large amount of work; however, only
 * liefs depicting six scenes in the life of St. Stanislaus,

few of the works attributed to him are authentic, s in former times nearly every important piece of Irving in southern Germany was ascribed to him. 'erhaps his best work is the ''Salutation of the Angel " 1 the Church of St. Laurence at Nuremberg (1.518): le archangel, a finel3' conceived figure, and ISIary, are irrounded by a huge ^Teath of roses in which are in- ■oven the Seven Joys of Mary; the figure of the llessed Virgin is however somewhat commonplace, ither excellent but less celebrated productions are
 * ie memorial tablet of Konrad ImhofT, now in the

ational museum at Munich, and the reliefs of the tie Church of Our I>ady at Nuremberg. Of the altars
 * arrying of the Cross and the Burial of Christ in

hich he carved, mention should be made of tho.se at chwabach, Bamberg, and of that in the Church of t. jEgidius at Nuremberg.

Daun, Veil Stoss UTid seine Schtile (Leipzig. 1903); Idem, Veil luss (Bielefeld, 190G); St.\3HK, Die Wahrheit fiber Peter Vischer Dracow, 1910).

Beda Kleinschmidt.

Stradivari, Antonio, the famous Cremonese vio- n-maker, b. in 1649 or 1650; d. at Cremona, 18 or 19 )ec., 1737. He was the son of Alessandro Stradivari nd Anna Moroni. As there is no evidence of his irth and baptism in any of the parish registers of "remona, it is supposed that he was born in some illage near that town. In 1667 he began to make (ringed instruments. Some violins, dated in the p\enties, and signed by him, are supposed to exist, ut evidences of Stradivari's workmanship are to be iiuid in many \nolins of this date which are signed by siclicihis Aniati. It is probable that during the years t)tl7-7".) he worked as a pupil in Amati's workshop.

In ItiSOStradivari set up for himself in the Piazza San ^oincnico, and his f.ame as a violin-maker was soon stalili.shed. He now began to show his originality, nd to make alterations in Amati's model. The arch- ig W!is improved, the various degrees of thickness in he wood were more exactly determined, the forma- ion of the scroll altered, and the varnish more highly oloured. From 1698 to 172,5 Stradivari produced is finest instruments, and carried his manufacture to he highest [xissiblc finish, the outlines are designed ,'ith taste and purity, the wood is rich and carefully elected, the arching falls off in gentle and regular urves, the scroll is carved with great perfection, and he varnish is fine and supple. The interior work- nanshij) is no less perfect, the degrees of thickness arc arefdlly adjusted, and are remarkable for a pred- ion which could only have been attained by much tudy and experiment. Everything has been fore- een, calculated, and determined with certainty. The nstruments produced from 172.5-30 are not so fine, ifter 1730 many are signed "sub disciplina Stradi- ■arii ", and were probably made by his sons, Omobono .nd Francesco.

Stradivari fixed the exact shape and position of the ound-holes, and his model has been copied by most nakers since his time. He definitively settled the hape and details of the bridge, which cannot be al- ered in th(t sliglitest degree without in some way in- uring the tone of the instrument. The only essen- iial part of the violin which has had to be changed

since Stradivari's time is the bass-bar. On account of the gradual rise in pitch the increased pressure of the strings demands an increased power of resistance in the bar underneath th(- bridge, hence it has been found nece,s,sary to re-bar all the old violins and vio- loncellos. Stradivari was buried in the Basilica of San Domenico.

Eliz.^beth Lorkin.

Stradivari Family, The. — The name Stradivari goes back to the Middle Ages; we find it spelt in various ways, Stradivare, Stradiverto, Stradivertus. F6tis professes to find it in the municipal archives of Cre- mona for the years 1127 and llsd. Tlie name was certainly borne by more or less distinguished citizens of Cremona during the twelftli and (liirleenth cen- turies. Signor Mandelli gives, as the earliest known mention of it, a document dated May 1 ISS, in which it is recorded that certain pieces of land were leased by the canon and chief warden of t he (■.•if hedral of Cre- mona to one Giovanni Stradiverto and liis heirs. Arisi, the Cremonese monk, who wrote concerning Antonio Stradivari in 1720, mentions: Galiero Stradi- vari, a learned Orientalist, who lived in tlie thirteenth century; Alessandro Stradivari, another Orientalist, about the end of the thirteenth century; Costanzo Stradivari, of about the same periotl, a monk, who wrote a treatise on the natural philo.soph.v of Aristotle. Fetis also mentions: Guglielmus Stradi- vertus, an excellent lawyer, wlio dieil in 1439. It is certain that the name was a common one in Cremona, but we have no exact evideni-e to prove that Stradi- vari, the violin-maker, was directly connected with the above-mentioned persons. The earliest documen- tary record of his ancestry is to be found in the mar- riage register of the catluMlral of Cremona, where there is an entry, dated April, lliOO, of tiie inarriageof Oiulio Cesare Stradivari, of the parisli of IS. Miehele \'ei-<'liio, to Doralioe Milani, of the parish of the cathed?\il. They had a son, Alessandro, christened in the church of S. Miehele in January, 1(302; and in the register of the parish of S. Prospero, is the entry of the marriage of this Ale-ssandro Stradivari and Anna Moroni — the father and mother of Antonio.

Francesco Stradivari, son of Antonio, b. 1 Feb. 1671 ; d. 11 May, 1743. He followed his father's call- ing, and was the only one of Stradivari's sons to in- herit any of the father's skill in making stringed in- struments. He made very good violins; .some are signed by himself, .and others, made with the help of his brother Omobono, are signed "sotto la disciplina d'.\ntonio Stradivari". His work is quite distinct in character from Antonio's. Both Francesco and Omobono were overshadowed by the genius of their father; they produced good work, if not work of the highest quality.

Omobono Stradivari, son of Antonio, b. 14 Nov., 1679; d. 8 June, 1742. He also followed his father^s trade, and made some violins in conjunction with his brother Francesco. His work was chiefly confined to the repair and fitting up of instruments; possibly ho made bows, instrument-cases — which were specially designed for wealthy patrons, and often things of great value and beauty — and various fittings, such as bridges, pegs, tail-pieces, etc.

J'aoh Stradivari, the j'oungest .son of Antonio by a second marriage, b. 26 Jan., 1708; d. 14 Oct., 1776. He was a cloth merchant, and the only son of the great Stradivari who married. On the death of Fran- cesco, Paolo received the collection of tools, moulds, patterns, drawings, correspondence, and memoranda left by their father, and also several instruments, in- cluding the famous "Alard" Strad of 171.5, and the unrivalled "Me.ssie" violin of 1716. In 177.5 this col- lection of relics was sold by Paolo to the Count Cozio de Salabue, and afterwards passed into the hands of the late Marquis Alessandro Dalla Valle. Cesare