Enrico Ceruti (1806–1883) was an Italian violin maker born in

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

, known as the last of the great line of violinmakers of Cremona. He was the son of Giuseppe Ceruti and grandson to Giovanni Battista Ceruti. He was also an active dealer of fine old instruments dealing with

Luigi Tarisio Luigi Tarisio (Fontaneto d'Agogna (Novara) - 21 June 1796 – Milan - 1 November 1854) was an Italian violin dealer and collector. Early life He was of humble parents and is said to have trained as a carpenter, playing violin as a hobby. Caree ...

and

Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (7 October 1798 – 19 March 1875) was a French luthier, businessman, inventor and winner of many awards. His workshop made over 3,000 instruments. Early life Vuillaume was born in Mirecourt, where his father and gr ...

among others. Being 3rd generation violin maker, he learned his trade from his father Giuseppe, and was a double bass player as well, like his father. Left the family home in 1826, and records show that by 1830 was registered as a violin maker, although few instruments from before 1840 survive. Experts speculate that it is conceivable that Enrico was working with his father during the period of 1840s-1850s and it would explain the extreme rarity of instruments made by Giuseppe dating from that period. At a time when best European makers were imitating

Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', as well as the colloquia ...

and

Guarneri del Gesu Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri (, , ; 21 August 1698 – 17 October 1744) was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his in ...

, Enrico followed a different path. Enrico's work shows that he drew much of his inspiration from the Bergonzis. Enrico exhibited his instruments in various European cities, but his work does not seem to have been greatly appreciated outside Italy. As a result, he had not attained any great wealth. His students include Gaetano Antoniazzi.

Quotes

"Ceruti Dynasty carried on the tradition from the times of Storioni and Bergonzi's - and became the direct link to the 20th century makers. Gaetano Antoniazzi (who learned his craft in the Ceruti workshop), along with his sons

Riccardo Riccardo is a male given name, Italian version of Ricardo or Richard. It also may be a surname. It means "Powerful Leader". It may refer to: People A–L *Riccardo Antoniazzi (1853–1912), Italian violin maker *Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985 ...

and

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...

trained Leandro Bisiach, and together with the Antoniazzis, Bisiach influenced the creation of a workshop environment that was to dominate early to middle 20th Century Italian violinmaking." "Thanks to the efforts of many of those great makers (which began with Gaetano Antoniazzi) and later with support of people like

Simone Fernando Sacconi Simone Fernando Sacconi (May 30, 1895 in Rome – June 26, 1973 in Point Lookout) was an expert Italian violin maker and restorer who studied fellow ''luthier'' Antonio Stradivari extensively during his lifetime. "While still at school he became ...

, the glory of Cremona was re-established with the opening of the School of Violin Making (officially in 1938, Cremona)." Filimonov Fine Musical Instruments
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References

*Duane Rosengard, Contrabbassi Cremonesi, Ed.Turris, Cremona, 1992. *The Late Cremonese - by Erin Shrader STRINGS magazine * The Late Cremonese Makers - Dmitry Gindin * Four Centuries of Violin Making - Tim Ingles * * *

Walter Hamma Walter Hamma (22 September 1916 – 11 August 1988) was a German violin maker. His father, Fridolin Hamma, was an influential violin maker. Walter Hamma was pupil of the violin making school in Mittenwald 1933-1935. He worked with Ferdinand Ja ...

, ''Meister Italienischer Geigenbaukunst'', Wilhelmshaven 1993, {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceruti, Giovanni Battista 1806 births 1883 deaths Luthiers from Cremona 19th-century Italian musicians