Guarneri del Gesù

(Bartolomeo) Giuseppe Guarneri (born August 21, 1698 in Cremona ; † October 17, 1744 ibid) was an Italian violin maker who, like Antonio Stradivari , was based in Cremona. On his cheat sheets he called himself Joseph Guarnerius and added a cross and the letters IHS ; therefore it was later called Guarneri del Gesù or Guarnerius del Gesu .

family

Giuseppe Guarneri came from a traditional Cremonese violin making family: his grandfather Andrea (circa 1623 / 26–1698) was an apprentice to Nicola Amati , his father Giuseppe Giovanni (1666 - circa 1739/40), who was later nicknamed filius Andreae , set the stage the work continues. His uncle Pietro Giovanni ( Pietro I , 1655–1720), mainly working in Mantua, and his brother Pietro ( Pietro II , 1695 - circa 1762/63), mainly working in Venice, were famous violin makers. However, he has surpassed them all in the quality of his instruments.

Life

Giuseppe Guarneri first learned and worked with his father. In 1722 he married Catarina Rota from Vienna, possibly the daughter of a member of the Austrian occupation in Cremona. However, it is still in the dark where the couple lived between 1722 and 1728 (probably in Cremona); This year Giuseppe appears temporarily as the operator of a Cremonese inn.

Around 1730 he took over the workshop of the then seriously ill father; his first surviving IHS violin sheet dates from 1731. His wife probably also worked to a certain extent in the workshop and did the business after his death.

plant

Il cannone

Between 150 and 200 violins by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù have been preserved. Numerous largely good illustrations of the works of Guarneri del Gesù can be found in the literature cited.

No violas are known by Guarneri del Gesù. However, a cello from 1731 is attributed to him, which his father, from whom it was probably ordered, could no longer play it himself due to illness, as well as another cello, possibly from 1732.

Creative periods

From around 1716 his stylistic influence can be seen in violins from his father's workshop; these relatively few instruments are tonally stronger than the father's earlier ones. The assignment is difficult, however, also because there are virtually no indisputably original notes from the father or son from the period up to around 1730. In the USA there used to be a tendency to assign corresponding instruments to the son; in the meantime, in agreement with European experts, people are more cautious in this regard.

Around 1730, Guarneri's main independent work began, some of which had heads (snails) from his father's hand. Violins from around 1734/1735 can be assigned to the more productive middle creative period, from 1739/1740 to the late work. Niccolò Paganini played one of his most sonorous violins (dated 1742 or 1743) and therefore called it il mio cannone violino ("my cannon violin "). He bequeathed the Cannone to his hometown of Genoa , where it is on display in the town hall. Guarneri's most famous (and most copied) instruments date from the last years of his life (1737–1744). B. Kochanski (1741), Lord Wilton (1741) or Ole Bull of 1744, the year he died. The "names" were usually determined after the previous owners of the respective instruments, e. B. after Seymour Egerton, 4th Earl of Wilton.

According to current research, the fact that Guarneri once sat in the dungeon and also built “prison violins” there is a legend that could be based on the fact that Guarneri built relatively few instruments in the course of his life - and that actually once at the beginning of the 18th century a Guarneri was imprisoned in Cremona, but his first name was Giacomo.

features

The work by Guarneri del Gesù is characterized in particular by generally smaller formats (35.0 to 35.5 cm body length), slight floor and ceiling curves, open C-brackets, short, later sometimes longer corners, long f -Holes (reminiscent of the Brescia school) and splendid lacquers. The instruments seem rather unequal, but always ingenious. The later, the more individual they appear.

value

Guarneri's violins are now among the most sought-after and expensive string instruments in the world. In 2009, around 10 million dollars are said to have been paid for the "Kochanski" of 1741. The "Vieuxtemps" from the same year was sold in 2010 for 18 million dollars.

Instrument directory

(compared with the numbers in the Cozio archive)

• Billotet-Guilet, approx. 1715-22, Cozio 40680
• Frank, Sin, Tonhalle, approx. 1715–22, Cozio 44918
• Rappoldi, Campbell, ca. 1715-22, Cozio 49179
• Möller, Moskowsky, approx. 1715–22, Cozio 61284
• Chang, 1717, currently played by Sarah Chang . (The origin of this early violin has often been questioned, but its attribution to Guarneri del Gesù has now been established.)
• Möller, Samsung, approx. 1722-26, Cozio 41155
• New York Philharmonic, ca.1722-26, Cozio 45560
• Folinari, ca.1725, Cozio 32443, in private use
• Count de Vière-Cheremetieff, Balokovic, approx. 1725-29, Cozio 43700
• Zimmermann, Aerson, approx. 1725-29, Cozio 44520
• Prnjat, 1726, currently in use by the RTCG orchestra
• Colin, Kogan, 1726, Cozio 40682
• Dancla, Serato, ca. 1726-29, Cozio 40409
• Robrechts (Robrecht), 1728, Cozio 44054
• Corti, Tolstopiatow, Lvoff, ca.1728, Cozio 42441
• Kubelik, from Vecsey, ca.1728, Cozio 71858
• "Lady Stretton", Albert Stern, Elmar Oliveira, 1728–29, Cozio 40126
• Cobbett, Downs, ca.1729, Cozio 60188
• Baron Heath, 1729, Cozio 42986
• Briggs, 1730, Cozio 61283
• Baron Vitta, ca.1730, Cozio 40391
• David, Payne, ca.1730, Cozio 40388
• Pluvié, Champonay, Kahn, ca.1730, Cozio 40392
• Lord Shaftsbury, 1730-31, Cozio 47533
• Castelbarco, Haddock, Bromley Booth, ca.1730-34, Cozio 43676
• “Catedrală”, George Enescu , 1731, owned by the Romanian National Museum “George Enescu” in Bucharest , awarded to the violinist Gabriel Croitoru in 2008 after a state music competition.
• Messeas, 1731, violoncello , Cozio 40385
• Baltic, 1731, Cozio 40410
• Sorkin, Mischakoff, 1731, Cozio 42178
• Marteau, Habisreuthinger, Gerard Poulet, 1731, Cozio 45112, currently played by Maxim Vengerov .
• Huberman, 1731, awarded for life to Midori Gotō by the Hayashibara Foundation .
• Stanley Goodman, ca.1731, Cozio 41968
• Geneva, Turettini, ca.1731, Cozio 47740
• Lo Stauffer, Zukerman, ca.1731, Cozio 40803
• Gibson, Huberman, 1731, Cozio 40406
• Armingaud / Fernández Blanco, 1732, exhibited in the Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernández Blanco in Buenos Aires , Argentina
• Ferni, 1732, Cozio 47698
• Adolphe Sax, 1732, now owned by the Paris Conservatory
• Posselt, Phillip, 1732, sold by Ruth Posselt to a private collector at the time
• Bernhard Braunholz, 1732 (?), Violoncello, (principal cellist Frankfurt Opera Orchestra 1965–1995)
• Mayseder, 1732, Cozio 42355
• Kreisler, Nachez, 1732, Cozio 40549
• Balokovic, Haupt, 1732, Cozio 40397
• Pixis, 1732, Cozio 43699
• Rode, von Heyder, ca.1732, Cozio 40389
• Jean Becker, 1732, Cozio 43270
• Gillot, Lord Dunmore, ca.1732, Cozio 40395
• Dittrich, ca.1732, Cozio 40218
• Plotenyi, Remenyi, 1732, Cozio 40394
• Parlow, Henryk Kaston, 1732, Cozio 41966
• Fritz Kreisler, 1733, Cozio 40400, donated to the Library of Congress in 1952
• Lafont-Siskovsky, 1733, Cozio 40399, on display in the Chi-Mei Museum, Taiwan
• Consolo, 1733, Cozio 44397
• 1733, Cozio 47475
• Soil, 1733, Cozio 42723
• Hämmerle, 1733, Cozio 43920
• Prince Doria, 1733–34, Cozio 46922, owned by the Parisian noble Doria family since 1860
• Haddock, 1734, Cozio 40411
• Spagnoletti, 1734, Cozio 46715
• Rode, 1734, Cozio 40404
• Heberlein, le Guillet, 1734, Cozio 49613
• Pugnani, 1734, Cozio 40402
• Ferni, Duc de Camposelice, 1734, Cozio 43826
• 1734, Cozio 61313
• Hart, Kreisler, ca.1734, Cozio 40551
• Lo Stauffer, 1734, owned by the Comune di Cremona
• Plowden, 1735, Cozio 40418
• Sennhauser, 1735, Cozio 40089
• David, 1735, Cozio 40618
• Parlow, Viotti, 1735, Cozio 40420
• Ladenburg, Odnoposoff, 1735, Cozio 40121
• Antoncich, Ward, 1735, Cozio 40450
• Chardon, 1735, Violino piccolo , Cozio 40421
• “The King”, 1735, Cozio 40407, owned by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb
• Kubelik, Ferni, 1735, Cozio 40419, currently played by Chung Kyung-wha
• Ladenburg, 1735, currently played by Robert McDuffie
• Mary Portman , 1735, Cozio 40088, bestowed on Ben Beilman by the Stradivari Society of Chicago by Clement and Karen Arrison
• d'Egville, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, Menuhin, 1735, Cozio 40417, now in the David L. Fulton collection, Seattle, WA
• Wieniawski, 1736, Cozio 43840
• Muntz, Bustabo, 1736, Cozio 49615
• Count Cessol, 1736, Cozio 40422
• Pollitzer, Koessler, 1736, Cozio 43519
• Lafont, ca.1736, Cozio 41035
• Paulsen, 1737, Cozio 47249
• Joachim, 1737, Cozio 40412
• Zimbalist, 1737, Cozio 48357
• “King Joseph”, 1737, Cozio 40213, the first Guarneri del Gesù to leave Europe (USA, 1868), now in the David L. Fulton Collection, Seattle, WA
• Lipiński, 1737, after Karol Lipiński , currently owned and played by Daniel Hope
• Isaac Stern, Panette, Balatre, 1737, Cozio 40214, now in the David L. Fulton collection, Seattle, WA
• Fountaine, 1738, Cozio 47065
• Kemp, Emperor, 1738, Cozio 40426, now in the David L. Fulton Collection, Seattle, WA
• Haas, Soriano, 1738, Cozio 45258
• Adam, Wurlitzer, 1738, Cozio 40425
• Maggio, Huberman, 1738, Cozio 66000
• Baron Gutmann, Baron Knoop, ca.1738, Cozio 42440
• Kortschak, Wurlitzer, Hammig, Spanish Joseph, 1739, Cozio 40428
• Museum, 1739, Cozio 43701
• Ebersholt, Menuhin, 1739, Cozio 40595, exhibited in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna
• Beare, Steinhardt, 1739, Cozio 49617
• Bower, Druian, 1739, Cozio 44345
• 1739, Cozio 61377, now privately owned by an anonymous German collector and on loan to Lisa Batiashvili .
• Lutti, Senn, 1740, Cozio 40430
• Fountaine, 1740, Violino piccolo , Cozio 4327
• Ysaÿe, 1740, Cozio 40064, owned by the Nippon Music Foundation and still on loan to Isaac Stern
• David, 1740, in the possession of Jascha Heifetz for a long time and played by him in concerts, now on display at the Californian Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, Ca.
• Casadesus, ca.1740, Cozio 48178
• Pestel, Menuhin, ca.1740, Cozio 49624
• Rebner, Bonjour, ca.1740, Cozio 40432
• Heifetz, David, ca.1740, Cozio 40097
• Baron d'Erlanger, approx. 1740–41, Cozio 45387
• Kochánski, 1741, Cozio 42807, sold by its last owner, violinist Aaron Rosand, for $ 10 million in 2009
• Carrodus, 1741, Cozio 40255
• Henry Holst, 1741, Cozio 44998
• Playfair, 1741, Cozio 50382
• 1741, Cozio 49618
• Doubleday, Duvette, 1741
• Vieuxtemps, 1741, also called the “Mona Lisa of the violins”, Cozio 40433. Privately owned by an anonymous collector and loaned for life to Anne Akiko Meyers .
• Vieuxtemps, Wilmotte, ca.1741, Cozio 50024
• Duc de Camposelice, ca.1741, Cozio 40548
• Lipiński, ca.1742, Cozio 40424
• Moser, 1742, Cozio 48180
• Wieniawski, 1742, Cozio 40090
• Donaldson, McAllister, Sorobin, ca.1742, Cozio 40429
• Segelman, 1742, Cozio 40623
• Tellefsen, 1742, Cozio 40403
• Dragonetti, Walton, 1742, Cozio 43830
• Benno Rabinof, 1742, Cozio 55051
• Alard, 1742, Cozio 40444, now owned by the Cité de la musique in Paris
• Lord Wilton, 1742, Cozio 40256, long played by Yehudi Menuhin, now in the David L. Fulton Collection, Seattle, WA
• Dushkin, 1742, Cozio 40446, currently played by Pinchas Zukerman
• Soldier, 1742, Cozio 40445, currently played by American crossover violinist Rachel Barton Pine
• Brusilow, 1743, Cozio 49626
• Spalding, 1743, Cozio 45063
• Sauret, 1743, Cozio 40253
• Burmester, Canary, Hammerle, 1743, Cozio 42987
• Baron Heath, 1743, Cozio 43582
• Il Cannone , 1743, Cozio 40130, played by Niccolò Paganini at the time , now on display in Genoa City Hall
• Carrodus, Hottinger, 1743, Cozio 40447, now in the David L. Fulton collection, Seattle, WA
• Hoffmann, Harrington, Prince of Orange, Forest, ca.1744, Cozio 42581, exhibited in the Czech National Museum, Prague
• Leduc, ca.1744, Cozio 40448
• Sainton, Betti, ca.1744, Cozio 40434
• Doyen, 1744, Cozio 40436
• Edith Lorand, Columbus, Terminator, 1744, Cozio 49625
• Lord Coke, 1744, Cozio 40415
• de Bériot, 1744, Cozio 43991
• Cariplo, Hennel, Rosé, 1744, Cozio 41962
• Ole Bull , 1744, Cozio 40453, acquired by the Chi Mei Foundation in 1992 and exhibited in the Chi-Mei Museum, Taiwan. Pictured in the Ingles & Hayday catalog. It is commonly believed that this instrument was the last work by Guarneri del Gesù.

Collections

The following public collections have his violins:

• Romanian National Museum "George Enescu", Bucharest: Catedrală 1731 (currently on loan to the violinist Gabriel Croitoru)
• Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernández Blanco, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Armingaud 1732
• Paris Conservatory : Adolphe Sax 1732
• Library of Congress , Washington, DC: Fritz Kreisler 1733
• Chi-Mei Cultural Foundation & Chi-Mei Museum, Tainan County, Taiwan: Lafont-Siskovsky 1733 and Ole Bull 1744
• Comune di Cremona: Lo Stauffer 1734
• Comune di Genova Cannone 1743 ( Palazzo Doria Tursi , Sala Paganiniana)
• Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb: The King 1735
• Kunsthistorisches Museum , Vienna: Ebersholt 1739
• Californian Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco: David, Heifetz 1740
• Cité de la musique , Paris: Alard 1742
• Czech National Museum , Prague: Hoffmann, Harrington ca.1744

Web links

• The Guarneri Family of Musical Instrument Makers
• Cozio Archives - 189 instruments are listed here
• Guarneri del Gesu and the Guarneri family violin makers in Cremona: An introduction to life and work

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Guarneri, Joseph . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 6th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1860, p. 8 f. ( Digitized version ).
• William Henry Hill, Arthur F. Hill and Alfred Ebsworth Hill: The Violin-Makers of the Guarneri Family. London 1931
• Charles Beare: Article in The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments and Instrument Makers , 3 volumes; ed. by Stanley Sadie. London 1984
• Willibald Leo von Lütgendorff-Leinburg : The violin and lute makers from the Middle Ages to the present, supplementary volume by Thomas Drescher. Tutzing 1990
• Peter Biddulph (Ed.): The Violin Masterpieces of Guarneri del Gesu, An Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. London 1994
• Comune di Cremona (adviser Charles Beare, Bruce Carlson, Andrea Mosconi): Joseph Guarnerius “del Gesu”. Cremona 1995
• Ente Triennale Internazionale degli Strumenti ad Arco, Consorzio Liutai & Archettai “A. Stradivari ”Cremona, Associazione Liutaria Italiana: I Centenari dei Guarneri. Cremona 1998
• Carlo Chiesa, John Dilworth, Roger Graham Hargrave, Stewart Pollens, Duane Rosengard and Eric Wen: Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù , 2 volumes; ed. by Peter Biddulph. London 1998
• Bein & Fushi: The Miracle Makers. Chicago 1998
• Roger Hargrave: Seeking Mrs. Guarneri. In: theStrad , September 2000; Pp. 950-957
• John Dilworth: IHS sacred and profane. In: theStrad , January 2006; Pp. 38-44
• Fondazione Antonio Stradivari Cremona - La Triennale, Consorzio Liutai Antonio Stradivari Cremona (Ed.): Cremona 1730–1750, nell'Olimpo della liuteria. Cremona 2008
• Caroline Gill: A bargain at $ 18m? In: theStrad , December 2009; Pp. 20-21
• Carlo Chiesa: Beauty from the beast. In: theStrad , July 2010; Pp. 24-30
• Advertising Feature: The Caspar Hauser In: theStrad , May 2011; Pp. 56-57

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Guarneri Family ; Article on Geige24.com
2. ^ Willibald Leo Lütgendorff: The violins and lute makers from the Middle Ages to the present ; Leipzig, 1921
3. ^ Cozio Archives
4. ^ Tarisio Fine Instruments & Bows: Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesù', Cremona, 1728–29, the 'Lady Streeton, Oliviera' .
5. ↑ http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1421509-el-violin-que-desperto-de-su-sueno
6. ↑ Municipality of Genoa: Paganini Hall