Carlo Annibale Tononi (1675–1730) was a

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 ...

who trained and worked with his father in the Tononi family workshop in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

until his father, Johannes Tononi, died in 1713. After his father's death, Tononi moved to the more important center of music in Italy,

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

. In the late 17th century, Bologna was a great centre for art and especially of string playing, being Arcangelo Corelli's home town. By the early 18th century, Venice had become a more important cultural centre (for music and lutherie and instrument making). Carlo Tononi moved to Venice between 1713 and 1716, where he became one of the foremost makers of the new Venetian School. Before his death, Tononi modified his will to provide for his funeral. He requested that the proceeds from the sale of one of his

cellos The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D ...

be used to pay for a mass to be said for his soul. On 21 April 1730, his executors published his will after his death. A genuine Tononi

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 ...

ranges in value from $45,000 to $450,000 depending on condition and provenance.

References

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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,
Cozio.com
* Die Geigen und Lautenmacher vom Mitteralter bis zur Gegenwart, Willibald Leo von Lütgendorff, Frankfurter Verlags-Anstalt, Frankfurt am Main, 1922. * Italian Violin Makers, Karel Jalovec, Paul Hamlyn, London, 1964. * Italian Violin-Makers, Karel Jalovec, Orbis, Prague, 1952. * Italienische Geigenbauer (1957), Karel Jalovec, Artia, Prague, 1957. 1675 births 1730 deaths Italian luthiers People from Bologna People from Venice {{Italy-artist-stub