‘The forms of the ‘Plowden’ Guarneri ‘del Gesi’ and the ‘Titian’ Stradivari show how the violin makers of Cremona’s golden age turned away from the design principles of their predecessors, says FRANCOIS DENIS P hhe acoustical and technical of the violin family using only ‘a compass, ‘These geometric principles depended procedures involved in the aaruler and a T-square, the use of any for their survival on the orl transmission birth of the vilinare partofa template being prohibited ‘of knowledge. But towards the end of creative evolution which, from ‘Atthe time when the use of acompass the Middle Ages, such seemingly solid antiquity, blended ideas from East and was still eommonplace, designing an ‘concepts were shaken to their foundations West. These innovations in ltherie object consisted of defining in a pragmatic by twoevents. The first was the invention were developed in the medieval Iberian way the limits of what were called the ‘ofthe printing press, which caused a peninsula, where Greco—Arab, ‘whole and its parts. The plan for creating significant decline in orl communication. ‘Greco—Latin and Jewish cultures a bowed or plucked stringed instrument _The second blow came from a small, ‘co-existed, and where ancient geometric _ was transcribed on toa single surface, ‘numberof scientists who began to principles were common knowledge. Which we will call the framework. The ‘question the restrictive nature of “The archives of Toledo Cathedral in principles of ths framework are identical _the philosophical foundation oftheir Spain throw fascinating light on early violin tothose used in architecture of the period. disciplines. From the time of the ‘onstruction methods. One dacument from The framework, its divisions and its Renaissance, the relevance of certain 1627 describes the content ofa Masters symmetry wereall based on three types __ principles relating to the concepts of degree examination in musical instrument of relationship between two joined ‘measurement and proportion came under ‘making, The candidate should, it states, _ dimensions (igure 1). This concept, scrutiny and completely new theories took know how to draw the patterns fora ‘now outdated, was fundamental tothe hold, These developments came frst to vihucla,a harp and all ofthe instruments ancient conception of shape. the intellectual classes ony later did luthiers and other craftsmen fee their effects, Our modern conception of ‘measurement i derived completely from this new approach, but the geometry ‘ofthe violin, since the instrument was developed in the 16th century, must be seen as the last extension of certain ancient Principles Its the depth of these ancient roots that partly explains our difficulties in uncovering them, Before looking atthe outlines ofthe A ‘Titian’ and “Plowden’ violins, iis worth roting that in drawings of any stringed ‘Mion smerny instrument — with the exception of the lute, which has a particular elliptical shape Figure 1 Thee types of relationship between two joined dimensions are used to — the contours are composed ofa series of construct the framework circles. The values ofthe radiuses of these SURFACEcircles correspond tthe distances between the divisions on the axes, and the mis of ‘the contour are naturally those ofthe surface on which the drawing as been sade. Historically this technique was usually illustrated with the drawing ofan ‘ovum (eg shape) igure 2). Iris known that diagonals were used 10 set type inthe ealest days of printing. i i E Figure 3 This Gutenberg Bible page shows «agonal used when print setting (after Ado ‘Wi Cahier GUTenberg no.22 September 1995) A page of the Gutenberg Bible (gure 3) illustrates the principle. Figure 4 shows an example of Maggi’ framework. The principal widths of the form (points M,N, O) are set by diagonals following the same process used inthe Biblical page layout figure 3). ‘The proportions of Brescian instruments early apply to the exterior contours, “= The Rheims palimpsestis one ofthe {ew surviving plans ofa medieval cathedral It clearly shows a frameworkand should be read from ight to left and from top to bottom, It indicates the diferent stages of design, beginning with the most general relations and ending with details ofthe decoration ‘= Figure2 The divisions of an ‘enthogenal fame provide the rather than to the moulds asin the ease of| ‘Cremona instruments, Nonetheless, the guiding geometric principles ae the same. “The framework can be broken down int a series of segmerts made up of the radius measurements for example, Ri=XP) (se figure 5). These radiuses are linked together by their centres, inthe same fashion asan articulated arm.» radius measurements (after Dare) Figure 4 An example of Magginis framework Figure 5 The framework can be broken down Into a series of segments made up ofthe radius measurements for example, R1=XP)‘THE-TITIAN’ STRADIVARI OF 1715 A study of the outline ofthis violin shows th the Stradivari P pat Museum of Cremon: it was built from which is currently housed in the Ci There i reason to believe that Sraivar ‘created his models from geometric archetypes inherited from the 16th century. Thus there came about a series of patterns that be eee Figure 6 The archetype forthe StradivariP pattern Figure 7A drawing ofthe outline ofthe P form the etterof the archetype from which they were conceived. The archetype in question heres the P", whose construction is shown in igure 6, 2 it might have been transmitted to Sadivai by Nicolo Amati It has been asserted thatthe P pattern, as shown in figure 7, coresponds closely to this theoretical proportional meal, The sketch of this framework is base on a typeof surface, «proportional geometrical construction, often described in the Renaissance asa ‘drawing by diagonals’. The secret of the proportions produced by the diagonals of the square and the double square is associated for good reason with the practice of medieval builders. These particular proportions offer artisans a advantages, notably allowing them to simplify their calculation of measurements. Such practical applications, above allese, justify the usage ofthese proportions since antiquity In 1350, for example, the German Hans Blum published one of the numerous architectural treatises ofthe time. His drawings numb ‘of columns appear to be made on the same basic geometry asthe violin. These drawing techniques can be reproduced on any scale, as demonstrated by my live drawing of aP form during the re KiGoutencatitiinin Stuttgart in July 2008 ef) Comparing the outline ofthe “Titian with the P pattern and the Parchetype, the only notable differences inthe BE upper corners inte the = CCebouts could be a result DE of visible wear figure 8). + Figure 8 The outine ofthe Tita compared wih the P pattern and the P archetype. The only notable diferences in the upper corners inside the C-bouts could bea result of visible wear‘THE’PLOWDEN’ GUARNERI “DEL GESU’ OF 1735 Despite the fact that they were constructed on a mould, the instruments ‘of Guarneri “del Gest are known fr their asymmetry. Infact, the often rough work ‘excludes the possibility that any shape had been clearly defined atthe comers. These slightly unpredictable outlines are part of the charm of Guarneri ‘del Gest violins, but they also complicate a study of the instruments. Nevertheless, what becomes apparent s thatthe quick style of working is supported by a well-established design foundation that remains crucial to the ‘overall impression (igure 9) Because the asymmetry of the comers ‘makes analysis difficult, it helps to ignore the space alloted tothe wooden blocks. (Once you do this, the extent ofthe random, ‘or intentional variation of a contour becomes more apparent. Utimately, itis clear that the Guarneri ‘del Ges instruments analysed here (including, the Plowclen’, the ‘Soil and the ‘Alard’ see igure 10) fall into ro categories, irrespective of when they were made The outlines ofthe first category follow ‘a clear geometrical construction, but in the second category, which includes the ‘Plone, this construction appears to be incomplete In addition, the study of the first category leads toa model that is not a ‘Guarneri ‘del Ges innovation but rather the well-known ‘Grand Amati’ pattern.» Figure 9 Disregarding the discrepancies these two contours the top and back outlines ofthe ‘Ar Guanes el Gest of 1742) undoubtedly Proceed from the same wooden frm TY Figure 10 From lett rght:the blue contour isthe Soi Guarmer del Ges from 1733. the green contour isan instrument of 1743, and the ed contour san instrument of 1733.These examples are superimposed on toa theoretical model of the Grand Amati pattern (internal forms in grey) It appears thatthe thee instruments have been made frm this patternInstruments of the second category correspond only partially tothe “Grand. pattern appears to have been empirically «a wooden form was made by moving the previous model sideways around a pivot Amati’ model. With these instruments, the point (igure 11). Another theory is that this second category could have been ‘generated from a previousone. Most ikely derived from the natural flexibility of «arb garland when detached from the ‘woeden form. But experience suggests ‘that the contour variations obtained in ‘this way lead to significantly different results from what is apparent here. Figure 11 An instrument of 1733 (green contour) appears to have been made using the same pattern asthe Plowden' of 1735 (ted contout fr right). This new form seems to have bbeen generated by swiveling the previous model shown in grey) left and right wth respect toa point on the upper block Fl 4 CONCLUSION Both Stradivari and Guarer ‘dl Ges were working at time in ‘olin history when luther designed few ifamy, new forms from seometic principles. Some Amati models were redrawn by fllowing the inherited technique o simply by duplication. As we have sen in the case ofthe ‘Titian and the ‘Plowden’, both veins appear to be ‘aiations of unique proportional scheme inherited from the Amat family. Each violin maker had many opportunites to expres thee style, but in most instruments of the period, the main curves of the form varied tite, withthe exception ofthe comers When von maker wanted to innovate, a reference mould became a drawing template an by copying or translation (or swiveling, inthe case cf Guar “del Gest), new for was created “The freedom taken with regard tothe inital model also has an Jmpacton the placement of the holes in relation tothe proportions ofthe exterior contour. The cer geometric relationship present in the Fale layout ofthe Amati brothers and ako in Brescia before 1630) isreplaced here by a more empiical approach, From that, the measurements ofthe holes would be set aconfing tothe limits defined by the ily ational practice of the previous cet “The end ofthe golden age of Cremonese violin making coincided with the erosion of the most important parts of the Amat legacy. The ls of the ast orignal moulds and templates made according to the proceses of the Renaissance seems to mark the end of what must be called the post-geometic’ period The end of Cremona’s golden age coincided with the erosion of the most important parts of the Amati legacy ince then, we have been in another era, where the model is ‘no longer derived from the design of a wooden form but from an existing instrument. In this type of work, based on copying, the lack of a conceptual approach to the outline is sublimated int ‘omanticand mythic discourse, which capitalises on the charisma ‘of dominant figures and thei secrets’, This ‘romantic’ perio {pins those of the ‘geometric’ an ‘post-geometric’ asthe three {important stages in the history of stringed instrument design from the 13th century tothe present day. Aca time when the furthest reaches of violin history are being revealed, scientific studies such as Strad3D ate presenting the sound vibrations of old master instruments as we have never seen ‘them before. That the frontiers of our understanding are suddenly extended in these wo directions assures future generations of violin makers diverse and stimulating avenues of research, # ventesrdcom