The world's most famous violin maker: Who is Antonio Stradivari?

It is mentioned in many sources that Stradivari, who is seen as the most famous master of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, learned violin making from Nicola Amati. However, this information has not been confirmed to date.

Antonio Stradivari, whose genius was discovered when he was still in his 20s, soon took his place among the biggest violin manufacturers of Cremona together with the Amati and Guarneri families.

Stradivari was born in Cremona, Italy in 1644. He had 3 siblings named Giuseppe Giulia Cesare Stradivari, Carlo Felice Stradivari, Giovanni Battista Stradivari. His father's name is Alessandro.

He was a maker of musical instruments and was the most famous manufacturer of his own in 18th-century Europe. He learned violin making from Nicolo Amati, whom he apprenticed. Beginning in 1666, he made violins bearing his signature. It is said that the number of instruments he made during his lifetime exceeded 1100. 650 of these, 512 of which are violins, have been preserved until today. Although he repeated what he learned from his teacher in his early studies, he added innovations that would increase the sound power of the violin in a short time and bring it to the most appropriate level. The proportions and bridge structure he developed in the form of the violin was later adopted as the standard.

His violins, mostly made of fir wood, are famous for their skillful craftsmanship, elegant appearance, perfect proportions, and sound beauty and power brought by these features. The composition of the varnish he used on his violins has not yet been deciphered. From the selection of wood to the quality of the varnish, every step was taken with great care. There are different rumors about the varnish Stradivari used to make violins. There's a good chance he used one resin, turpentine oil, and ethyl alcohol. It is not known whether he added any other substance to these, and this is where the mystery of the Stradivarius stems from.

Stradivari violins are still one of the most sought-after musical instruments in the world today. Antonio Stradivari's violins are worth millions of dollars today. Therefore, musicians who can touch a Stradivarius consider themselves extremely lucky. It may not make sense to non-musicians, but every famous and wealthy virtuoso dream of buying a Stradivarius.

Antonio Stradivari married a widow named Francesca Ferraboschi in 1667, and they had 2 daughters and 4 sons from this marriage. Two sons, named Omobono and Francesco, continued his father's profession.

Antonio Stradivari made his second marriage to Antonietta Zambelli Costa in 1699. There were 2 girls and 4 boys in this marriage.

Antonio Stradivari died on December 18, 1737, at the age of 93, in Cremona, Italy.

His sons, who wanted to continue his business after his death, could not reach his level in violin making. Since he did everything himself until the end of his life; he gave his sons only secondary jobs. For example, he had his sons do the rough cutting of the wood, and he always finished the last work himself.

The World's Most Expensive Violins

• In 2006, the violin named Hammer, made by Antonio Stradivari was sold for 3.54 million USD at an auction held at Christie's auction hall.
• In an online auction in 2011, Stradivari made one of the most expensive instruments ever sold, at US$15.9 million.
• One of the classical violin masters, David Garrett, paid 100,000 Euros for the repair of the Stradivarius violin, which he broke during a concert.
• Today, the price of the most valuable Stradivarius violin is estimated at 45 million USD.