Joan Maria da Bressa was a

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

n lyre maker active in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

in the first decades of the 16th century. One of the best lyres in the world made by him, with a very fine decorated and gilt head (palette) dated around 1525 by David Boyden, but more probably of the middle of the century, is now in the Ashmolean Museum in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Some scholars claim that he was the father of

Giovan Giacomo Dalla Corna Giovan Giacomo Dalla Corna (Brescia ca. 1485ca. 1560) was an Italian violin maker. He was one of the first in what is now known as the " Brescian school". He appears in Brescian tax documents for 1524, 1534 and 1548 as a merchant, in addition to ...

. A ''Zuanmaria de Antonio Bressan dai violini'' is found in some venetian documents dating from 1562 to 1601 testifying his work also like a maker of ''violini, lire e lironi''. Another man with similar name is Joan Maria Dalla Corna, father of Jo Jacobo Dalla Corna, a brescian maker born around 1484.

References

* Dassenno, Flavio ''Per gli occhi e 'l core. Strumenti musicali nell'arte''. Cortefranca, 2004. * AA. VV. ''Gasparo architetto del suono": a cura di Dassenno Flavio, Città di Salò'', 2009. * Stefano Toffolo ''Viol and lute makers of Venice 1490 - 1630'', Venice Research, Venice, 2011 Bowed string instrument makers Italian musical instrument makers Italian luthiers Businesspeople from Brescia 16th-century Italian businesspeople Year of birth uncertain {{Italy-musician-stub