1539/77 - "Violetta"

Violetta a1.jpg

Originally a bigger viola, reduced in lenght, width and depth. The top is two - pieces of spruce, with two small wingsin the lower bouts. The left “F-hole” keeps its original outline, while the right one has been modified. The back is of curly maple, in the middle a gilt motto surrounds a painted emblem, cutted in its middle, surmounted by a crown and surrounded by a necklace. In this emblem, Dominique Morché recognized the sword of Philip II, King of Spain from 1556 to 1598. Four golden fleur-de-lys surmount the tips of the crown. The ribs of curly maple have been deeply modified and reduced in their height. Probably, some portions have been moved. There are traces of decorations and gloden letters. In the upper right rib, the letters “VO” and “NICO” are clearly visible, while the letters “PROPVGN” are on the lower right rib. The purflings and the edges of each side are irregular, probably part of them are the original ones. There are very few traces of the original golden-brown varnish. The scroll is not original, the neck and the fitting up are modern.

Date and Place: Cremona, 1539/77
Label: Apocryphal label A. and G. Amati 1649
Length of body: 39,5 cm
Width, upper bouts: 19 cm
Width, center bouts: 13,3 cm
Width, lower bouts: 25,5 cm
Depth upper sides: 3,19 cm
Depth centre sides: 3,37 cm
Depth lower sides: 3,41 cm
Position: Parigi, Musée de la Musique
Inventory: E. 1731
Acquisition: Legacy Palmyre Annette Besson, widow of Alexandre André de Provigny 1908
Historical notes: The viola might screw be that described in the notice of Count Cozio of Salabue, stating that it was originally armed with five strings and he would have been "restored" by Mantegazza and would be sold to "Mr. Paolo Fields of Milan."
Restoration: Eighteenth century, Mantegazza, Milan (reduction in size; remake of the neck, lowering of the ribs and replacement of the bass bar); 1944 Emile Français, Paris
Provenance: Louis-Edoard Besson 1865; Musée du Conservatoire Nationale de Musique, Paris
Exhibitions: 2002, Paris: L'alto; 2007, Cremona: Andrea Amati. Opera Omnia, Les Violons du Roi; 2013, Ecouen: Un air de Renaissance: la musique au XVIe siècle
Bibliography specifies: Pillaut 1903; Neubecker 1977; Hardgrave 1991; Holman 1993; Getreau 1996; Pieters 1998; AA.VV. 2002; Cacciatori 2007; Frazier 2007; AA. VV. 2013