The ''Gould Stradivarius'' of 1693 is a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

made by the Italian

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers o ...

Antonio 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 colloq ...

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 ...

(1644-1737). This violin is a product of Stradivari's long-pattern and has been modified into a

baroque violin A Baroque violin is a violin set up in the manner of the baroque period of music. The term includes original instruments which have survived unmodified since the Baroque period, as well as later instruments adjusted to the baroque setup, and moder ...

configuration by luthier Frederick J. Lindeman located in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It is in a collection at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.{{Cite web, last=, first=, date=, title="The Gould" Violin, url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/503045, url-status=live, archive-url=, archive-date=, access-date=2020-12-27, website=www.metmuseum.org

Ownership

The ''Gould'' violin's ownership traces back to 1820 by an owner listed as "Marquis de Villers". Around 1850, a French violinist and celebrated teacher

Charles Dancla (Jean Baptiste) Charles Dancla (19 December 1817 – 10 October 1907) was a French violinist, composer and teacher. Biography Dancla was born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre. When he was nine years old, violinist Pierre Rode in Bordeaux heard his music; ...

bought the instrument and in 1880, the violin was then owned by person identified as M. Labitte (

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

), possibly having been Louis Labitte, a collector of musical manuscripts. The violin was purchased again in 1897 by a man with the name Rev. Albert Willan until about 1900 when the violin was sold to the Polish violinist and composer Emil Młynarskyi. In 1918, the violin was bought by the Allgemeine Musikgesellschaft (

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) and was used until 1928, when the violin was sold by the Albert Caressa firm to George Gould. The instrument stayed with George Gould until 1955, when George Gould bequeathed the violin to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where it now currently lies.

Instrument

The ''Gould'' is named after one of its owners and eventual donor, George Gould, who had given the instrument to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1955. In 1974, a careful decision was made to put the instrument back into a "baroque" form so that artists that specialize in historical performances could use the instrument. It is considered the only violin by Stradivari that has been returned to a baroque setup and "is regularly used for performance of period repertoire."

References

Stradivari violins 1693 works Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Stradivari instruments Baroque instruments

Ownership

Instrument

See also

References