Valentino Siani (c.1595–1672) was an Italian violinmaker who worked in

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 ...

and

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. He was a pupil of

Giovanni Paolo Maggini Giovanni Paolo Maggini (c. 1580 - c. 1630), was a luthier born in Botticino (Brescia), Italy. Maggini was a pupil of the most important violin maker of the Brescian school, Gasparo da Salò. Maggini's early instruments are now considered very de ...

in Brescia (c.1610–1620) before he moved to Florence in c.1620 where he worked c.1620–1670. Sianis' instruments have a rather full arching, narrow purfling in very nicely channelled edges, and stiff f-holes. His scrolls show the influence of Maggini. His work is very rarely met in the trade. He is particularly well known for his violas. A viola by Valentino Siani is pictured in ''Italian Violinmakers'' by Walter Hamma.

References

* * 1590s births 1672 deaths Italian luthiers Businesspeople from Florence Businesspeople from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany {{Italy-music-bio-stub