Naples School

Southern Italy is well known for lute, guitar and mandolin instruments. From 1700 to mid- 19th century, Gagalino is considered to be one of the famous violin production families in Southern Italy.

They made a huge portion of violin, cello and partially, viola. Among the whole system of violins. In terms of the violin production, the first generation Alessandro Gagliano (fl. C. 1700-c. 1735) was different from the later generations. Between 1698- 1700,the legendary Antonio Stradivari’s (c. 1644-1737) son, Omobono Stradivari (1679-1742) stayed in Naples and has taught Alessandro Gagilano. Perhaps, that was the main factor, resulting the different styles (including shape, materials, color) between Alessandro Gagilano and his son. From 1728-1732, the violins from Southern Italy are mostly Naples style and it’s based on Stradivari’s production.

In eighteenth century, members from the Galliano had a certain level of violin craftsmanship ability, but with the rise of middle class in nineteenth century, the market demand had risen up as well. Therefore, Galliano family began to make inexpensive instruments. There was color identification in order to differentiate between the class, usually red color was dedicated to the palace for noble members and golden brown color was sold to the civilian population, piano. Due to the reduced production schedule, therefore the price was lower. Future generation used different paints comparing with the traditional way, in order to create a warmer, thicker texture.

Another obvious feature was that the head of the violin is considered smaller, the maple was used from Abruzzo, volcanic area was located next to Abruzzo, therefore higher calcium was presented and relatively firmer wood.

Since the Naples did not do a great job on operating for the preservation of literature, they still had difficulty to confirm the actual birth date of Galliano members; therefore, they did not record the exact date of violin production for every member in this family.

By the 1800s, the Naples school had turned their focus toward the making of guitars, strings, and mandolins. The Naples school led the way for the development of string instruments in all of Naples and was monopolized by two families: The Vinaccia family and the Galliano family. Successors to the Vinaccia family include Vincenzo Jorio (1780-1849) and Vincenzo Postiglione (1835-1916) , while successors to the Galliano family were Francesco Verzalla (1842-1929) and members of the Ventapane family. Although by the 1860s Francesco Verzalla was still working actively, the violin making industry in Naples was mainly led by Vincezo Postiglione.

Vincenzo Sannino,1879-1969

Vincenzo Sannino (1879-1969) was born in Rome, and was a pupil of Francesco Verzella. As a student he studied the works of luthiers from Naples, and imitated them in his own works, coming very close to the originals. He moved to Rome in 1914. His models imitated the works of Gagliano, Stradivari and Guarneri. Sannino’s varnishes are usually a golden yellow or reddish yellow.

Giorgio Bairhoff, 1712-1790

喬吉歐‧拜爾霍夫 (Giorgio Bairhoff, 1740-1790) ，德國人，在拿波里 (Naples) 定居，並和加里亞諾 (Gagliano) 家族學習製琴，為尼可羅‧加里亞諾 (Nicoló Gagliano, 1695-1750) 的學生。拜爾霍夫通常使用瓜奈里 (Guarneri) 的模型製琴，琴身長度多半在十四吋以內。琴頭渦旋小而優雅，面板鑲線精細平行，多半使用精美的兩片楓木背板，以及橘棕色的琴漆。作品演奏起來音響明亮清晰。

Raffaele di Blasio, fc.1770-c. 1830

拉菲爾‧迪‧布雷西歐 (Raffaele di Blasio, fc.1770-c. 1830) 曾經幫加里亞諾 (Gagliano)家族代工。這把1820年製於拿波里的琴，為小體型的提琴。

Raffaele Trapani, fc. 1800-c. 1835

拉菲爾‧特拉帕尼(Raffaele Trapani, fc. 1800-c. 1835)於1800年至1838年間在拿波里(Naples) 工作，在大型尺寸上相當具有個人風格，有許多明顯的特點，例如在松木板加上楓木的外圍，或者以整塊木頭雕刻成側板外型等。略平的弧度搭配上稍大的琴身尺寸，以及明顯突出的邊緣。琴頭渦旋略嫌笨拙，帶有試圖模仿布雷西亞風格的影子。使用粗重的紅棕色琴漆。