Pietro Giovanni Guarneri
Encyclopedia
Pietro Giovanni Guarneri (1655–1720), also known as Pietro da Mantua or Peter Guarnerius of Mantua was a violin maker of the Guarneri
family who also worked as a professional musician. Today his instruments are very highly regarded, though quite rare. They are played by musicians such as Joseph Szigeti
.
Andrea Guarneri
and Anna Maria di Orcelli, born in Cremona
, Italy
on the 18th of February 1655. Although the exact date that he began to work with his father in his workshop is unknown, experts have found traces of his workmanship beginning about 1670 in instruments labeled as Andrea Guarneri. His work can be seen in many instruments between 1670 and 1678, and some appear to be whole his own making, though unlike his younger brother Giuseppe filius Andrea Guarneri, he never used his own label while working with their father. His early work shows not only promising ability and craftsmanship, but also a very pronounced tendency to express his own personality and follow his own ideas. He very quickly developed his own style which is noticeable in very distinctive f-holes, very precise corners and purfling and a fuller arching than his father used. Evidence from his fathers will indicates that father and son did not work together in the family workshop harmoniously, and Pietro left Cremona
altogether in 1679, eventually establishing himself in the city of Mantua
.
In 1677 Pietro was married to Caterina Sassagni and they had a son in the following year. 1694 he appears in the census in Mantua as having re-married to Lucia Guidi, and having five children, none of whom followed their father into violin making.
Even while he was in Cremona violin making was not his only interest. He was also developing himself as a violin and viol player.
By 1685 he was accomplished enough to be performing for the Duke of Mantua as a violin soloist and a viol player in the Mantuan Court Orchestra.
His musicianship makes him unique among the great Italian violin makers of the classical period. He is the only one to have left any record of musical ability, and certainly the only one who actively pursued both violin making and performing professionally.
He also appears to be the earliest known violin maker in the city of Mantua, though doubtless there were many viol and lute makers, as the city was already famous for its music, being home to the composer Monteverdi and Duke Vincenzo I of Gonzaga, a composer and patron of the arts. Singular as his musical achievements may have been, they sadly resulted in Pietro making very few instruments. Today not more than fifty of his violins are thought to exist, and there are no known violas or violoncelli.*
* Although William Henry Hill states that there are no Pietro Guarneri violoncelli in his 1931 book The Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family: Their Life and Work, in 1951 Emil Herrmann, a respected authority on stringed instruments, certified a 'cello that was labeled and had be previously attributed to Andrea Guarneri
as made by his son Pietro
Even before Pietro left his father's workshop he began to experiment with ornamentation on his instruments, possibly to increase their value. He sometimes added fleur-de-lis at the corners and at times added a second line of purfling. However his attempts at embellishment always fell short those which he was probably copying: Nicolò Amati
and Antonio Stradivari
.
From 1700 onward, he abandoned the Amati-like delicacy of his earlier work and adopted a larger, more masculine style. His model remained basically the same, though with increased width, enlarged edges, corners and f-holes. His massive scrolls are especially distinctive in this period, with the intermediate turn of the volute being left so high that the eyes appear dwarfed.
Throughout his career Pietro Guarneri was fastidious in his choice of wood. He accepted no compromises, and his maple is often of foreign growth and exceptional appearance. His varnish, likewise, was first quality, ranging in colour from golden-brown to orange to a brilliant red.
Guarneri
The Guarneri is the family name of a group of distinguished luthiers from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the Amati and Stradivari families...
family who also worked as a professional musician. Today his instruments are very highly regarded, though quite rare. They are played by musicians such as Joseph Szigeti
Joseph Szigeti
Joseph Szigeti was a Hungarian violinist.Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on the violin, and moved to Budapest with his father to study with the renowned pedagogue Jenő Hubay...
.
Biography
Pietro Guarneri was the eldest son of the master luthierLuthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...
Andrea Guarneri
Andrea Guarneri
Andrea Guarneri was an Italian luthier and founder of the house of Guarneri violin makers.-Biography:Thought to be born in 1626 to Bartolomo Guarneri in the parish of Cremona, Italy, very little is known about Andrea Guarneri's family of origin...
and Anna Maria di Orcelli, born in Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
on the 18th of February 1655. Although the exact date that he began to work with his father in his workshop is unknown, experts have found traces of his workmanship beginning about 1670 in instruments labeled as Andrea Guarneri. His work can be seen in many instruments between 1670 and 1678, and some appear to be whole his own making, though unlike his younger brother Giuseppe filius Andrea Guarneri, he never used his own label while working with their father. His early work shows not only promising ability and craftsmanship, but also a very pronounced tendency to express his own personality and follow his own ideas. He very quickly developed his own style which is noticeable in very distinctive f-holes, very precise corners and purfling and a fuller arching than his father used. Evidence from his fathers will indicates that father and son did not work together in the family workshop harmoniously, and Pietro left Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
altogether in 1679, eventually establishing himself in the city of Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
.
In 1677 Pietro was married to Caterina Sassagni and they had a son in the following year. 1694 he appears in the census in Mantua as having re-married to Lucia Guidi, and having five children, none of whom followed their father into violin making.
Even while he was in Cremona violin making was not his only interest. He was also developing himself as a violin and viol player.
By 1685 he was accomplished enough to be performing for the Duke of Mantua as a violin soloist and a viol player in the Mantuan Court Orchestra.
His musicianship makes him unique among the great Italian violin makers of the classical period. He is the only one to have left any record of musical ability, and certainly the only one who actively pursued both violin making and performing professionally.
He also appears to be the earliest known violin maker in the city of Mantua, though doubtless there were many viol and lute makers, as the city was already famous for its music, being home to the composer Monteverdi and Duke Vincenzo I of Gonzaga, a composer and patron of the arts. Singular as his musical achievements may have been, they sadly resulted in Pietro making very few instruments. Today not more than fifty of his violins are thought to exist, and there are no known violas or violoncelli.*
Footnotes
Andrea Guarneri
Andrea Guarneri was an Italian luthier and founder of the house of Guarneri violin makers.-Biography:Thought to be born in 1626 to Bartolomo Guarneri in the parish of Cremona, Italy, very little is known about Andrea Guarneri's family of origin...
as made by his son Pietro
Instruments
Pietro inherited from his father basics of the Amati form and concept of the violin, but his style quickly developed as distinctly his own. His workmanship was much finer and more controlled than his father's, and his instruments demonstrate a harmony of elements rarely equalled by his father which indicates a superior eye for form. The earliest instrument exhibiting Pietro's personal label is dated 1685 and was made in Mantua. In this instrument the curves are slightly stiffened and elongated in a Stradivarian style. In general Pietro's instruments were the standard 14 inches long, and tended to be of a narrow pattern with rather elongated 'bouts. The corners and edgwork were light, delicate and deeply fluted. His f-holes were based on an Amati template, but the top and bottom holes were larger than any Amati's, and the nicks more deeply cut.Even before Pietro left his father's workshop he began to experiment with ornamentation on his instruments, possibly to increase their value. He sometimes added fleur-de-lis at the corners and at times added a second line of purfling. However his attempts at embellishment always fell short those which he was probably copying: Nicolò Amati
Nicolò Amati
Niccolò Amati was an Italian luthier from Cremona.-Biography:Nicolò Amati was the fifth son of Girolamo Amati and the grandson of Andrea Amati, the founder of the Amati Family of violin makers. Of all the Amati Family violins, those of Nicolò are often considered most suitable for modern playing...
and Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari was an Italian luthier and a crafter of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas, and harps. Stradivari is generally considered the most significant artisan in this field. The Latinized form of his surname, Stradivarius, as well as the colloquial, "Strad", is...
.
From 1700 onward, he abandoned the Amati-like delicacy of his earlier work and adopted a larger, more masculine style. His model remained basically the same, though with increased width, enlarged edges, corners and f-holes. His massive scrolls are especially distinctive in this period, with the intermediate turn of the volute being left so high that the eyes appear dwarfed.
Throughout his career Pietro Guarneri was fastidious in his choice of wood. He accepted no compromises, and his maple is often of foreign growth and exceptional appearance. His varnish, likewise, was first quality, ranging in colour from golden-brown to orange to a brilliant red.