Giuseppe Guarneri
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Bartolomeo Giuseppe Antonio Guarnieri, del Gesù (21 August 1698 – 17 October 1744) was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri house of Cremona. He is the only luthier to rival Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his instruments, and he has been called the finest violin maker of the Amati line. Instruments made by Guarneri are often referred to as Joseph's or del Gesù's.
Giuseppe is known as del Gesù because his labels incorporated the nomina sacra, I.H.S. (iota-eta-sigma) and a Roman Cross. His instruments diverged significantly from family tradition, becoming uniquely his own style. They are considered second in quality only to those of Stradivari but are also claimed by some to be superior.
The most illustrious member of the House of Guarneri, Bartolomeo was the son of Giuseppe Giovanni Battista, thus the grandson of Andrea Guarneri, both noted violin makers themselves. Andrea learned his trade as an apprentice of Nicolò Amati, to whom Stradivari was also apprenticed.
Accomplished violinists such as Joseph Joachim, Eugène Ysaÿe, Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, Isaac Stern, Leonid Kogan, Henryk Szeryng, Itzhak Perlman, Gidon Kremer, Pinchas Zukerman, Michael Rabin, Bartek Niziol, Marie Soldat, Maud Powell, Rachel Barton Pine, Richard Tognetti, Midori, Nigel Kennedy, Ruth Palmer and Sarah Chang have used Guarneri del Gesù violins at one point in their career or even exclusively. Virtuoso Niccolò Paganini's favorite violin, Il Cannone Guarnerius of 1743, and the Lord Wilton of 1742, once owned by Yehudi Menuhin, are del Gesù instruments.
[edit] A treasury of instruments
- "Kubelik" Guarnerius del Gesù of 1735.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Hill, William Henry; Hill, Arthur F.; Hill, Alfred Ebsworth (1965). "Chapters IV and V: Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu". The Violin Makers of the Guarneri family, Their Life and Work. London: W.E. Hill & Sons. OCLC 857499. http://www.guarneri.net/filesite/pages/guarneri/delgesu.html. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
- Henley, William (1969). Universal Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers. Brighton; England: Amati. ISBN 0901424005.
- Wibberley, Leonard (1976). Guarneri: Violin Maker of Genius. London; England: Macdonald & Jane's. ISBN 0356083772.
