Valentino Siani was an Italian violinmaker who worked in Brescia

Brescia

Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...

 and Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

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He was a pupil of Giovanni Paolo Maggini

Giovanni Paolo Maggini

Giovanni Paolo Maggini , was a string maker born in Botticino , Italy. Maggini was a pupil of the most important violin maker of the Brescian school, Gasparo da Salò....

 in Brescia

Brescia

Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...

 (c.1610–1620) before he moved to Florence in c.1620 where he worked c.1620–1670.

Sianis' instruments have a rather full arching, narrow purfling in very nicely channelled edges, and stiff f-holes. His scrolls show the influence of Maggini.

His work is very rarely met in the trade. He is particularly well-known for his violas.

A viola by Valentino Siani is pictured in Italian Violinmakers by Walter Hamma

Walter Hamma

Walter Hamma was a German violin maker.His father was the violin maker Fridolin Hamma. Walter Hamma was pupil of the violin making school in Mittenwald 1933-1935. He worked with Ferdinand Jaura and later for Caressa & Francais in Paris. During the second world war the workshop in Stuttgart was...

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