Giovanni Battista Guadagnini

We are so excited to have a violin by G.B. Guadagnini for sale! Read on to find out a little more about this great maker.

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini is widely considered to be one of the best violin makers ever to have lived, outshone only by Stradivari and Guarneri ‘del Gesù’. He was constantly moving around to further his career, working in 5 cities over his lifetime. The convention at the time was to reference your violin-maker father on your labels in order to emphasise your excellent lineage: in an interesting display of marketing nous, Guadagnini frequently credits his father Lorenzo, despite him having been an innkeeper! Recent research has proven that it is likely Lorenzo never made a violin in his life. Another example of Guadagnini’s willingness to stretch the truth in order to present his work is his frequent labelling of himself as ‘alumnus Stradivari’: by the time that Guadagnini arrived in Cremona, the great master had been dead 21 years.

This violin was made in his native Piacenza towards the start of his career and is an excellent example of the bold and original style which marks Guadagnini’s instruments as some of the best in the world. Its tone and power are entirely typical of Guadagnini’s best instruments and you will doubtless hear a great deal of this instrument on our social media channels as Tim can’t stop playing it…

Update: this violin has now sold to a very happy player! Please have a look at our current range of fine Italian violins for sale.