Venice School

Cremona's violin was mainly made for European musicians; Milan’s violin was mainly used by the middle class; but for Venice’s instruements, was played by any kind of classes. This is because the instrument was in the closed market circulation; it was mostly purchased by opera, orphanages, churches and other organizations. However, the price of Venice violin was much higher than the Milan’s violin.

In the mid-seventeenth century, Venice's string instruments reached to the glorious achievements. Craftsmen, Martinus Kaiser (1642-1695) originally produced for the lute industry, and then switched his direction to violin industry. A student named Matteo Goffriller (1659-1742) therefore became the only one left of violin craftsmen for 25 years after the death of the Kaiser. Until 1711, Domenico Motagnana (1687-1750) , Francesco Gobetti (1675-1723) began to run their own shop.

Around 1717, 1718 years, Carlo Tonoli (1675-1730) and Petropavlovsk Guarneri both became one of the foremost makers of the new Venetian School. They both worked independently at Matteo II Sellas studio. In 1723, Santo Seraphin (1699-c. 1758) joined later on. Due to the political conflict between Venice and Turley, it had led to the decline of urban development, and also affected the culture directly. Starting from 1745, Venice gradually lost vitality violin.

Afte 1750s, we had Michele Demenico (1712-1780) , Domenico Busan (1720 - 1783) , Anselmo Bellosio (1743-1793) and Antonio Cerin (1774-c. 1808) as violin makers.

From 16 to 18 century, string instrument used in Europe were mostly came from Brescia, Cremona, Absam or the North of Füssen Alps region. Due to the shape of the area, Venice musicians had to adapt with the limitation. Venice’s violin was painted in dark red, thick panel, thin wood selection, the unique design of the scroll, set close to the violin strings, special F-hole…etc. The above descriptions were designed by the Germans. These features have created a warmer sound quality and a full bass tone. Therefore, "Independence, freedom, elegance," are the three words used to represent Venice violin.

The making of string instruments in Venice was originally regulated by a union system. Violins were made upon requested orders received from opera houses and government organizations. But by the 1820s, the number of orders diminished due to the political turmoil and economic changes at the time, eventually leading to the dissolution of the old system. Therefore, since the 1820s many non-mainstream luthiers began to gather in Venice, including luthiers such as Govanni Dollenz (1802-1857) from Trieste, Giovanni Battista Bodio (1785-1832) and Pietro Valentino Novello (c. 1759-1821) . However, both the quantity and quality of instruments made by these luthiers were substantially lower.

It was not until the 1860s that the second generation of the Degani family, Eugenio Degani (1842-1901) brought about a renaissance in Venice’s violin making. Degani trained many students and the craft of the Venice school spread to many different places in Italy. In 1922, due to the poor economic conditions in Venice, Giulio Degani (1875-1955) , son of Eugenio, was forced to move to Cincinatti in America to practice his craft. The Venice system of violin making thus came to a halt.

Lorenzo Carcassi, 1737-1775

Carcassi was a significant luthier in his age. He was born in Florence and worked with his brother Tommaso Carcassi from 1745 to 1786. Carcassi also worked for Giovanni Battista Gabrieli. His works were made in a larger form with great handicrafts. The tone color is rich and mellow, and the violin was often varnished in red or yellowish brown.

Tommaso Carcassi, 1745-1786

Tommaso worked with his brother Lorenzo. His works often showed the name “Tommaso e Lorenzo Carcassi” on the label. Tommaso’s violins were made in a small model, and the sonority is rich and powerful.

Giambattista Bodio, 1790-1832

Giambattista Bodio (1790-1832) is Gennaro Bodio’s son and student. He used the Domenico Montagnana style when making his instruments, which means they are wide and flat. The varnishes are usually yellow or reddish yellow, while the timbre is flat and delicate. He is most famous for his violas.

Jago Peternella, 1886-?

Before moving to the United States, Peternella had worked in Venice for several years, and he used the style of Eugenio Degani.

Bartolomeo Tassini, fc. 1740-c . 1758

巴托羅蜜歐‧塔西尼 (Bartolomeo Tassini, fc. 1740-c . 1758）採用跟泰斯托瑞 (Testore) 類似的模子，鑲線距離琴板邊緣相當近，屬於當時威尼斯的特色。琴面幅度飽滿，F孔形狀相當粗礦，音色相當飽滿具有穿透力，目前留於世上的作品極少。

Giovanni Battista Bodio, 1776-1849

有關喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔‧博迪奧(Giovanni Battista Bodio, 1776-1849）的生卒年眾說紛紜，但也有相關的提琴書記載為1785年至1832年。之所以會有如此現象，乃歸因於博迪奧家族跟其他Forlico、Fabirs、Rizzi等家族一樣，都是威尼斯城裡的大家族。博迪奧家族於1735年在安格羅‧博迪奧(Angelo Bodio)之手開始發展。博迪奧家族專精於音樂發展，家族裡幾乎所有人都能夠演奏小提琴，喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔‧博迪奧的名字，則常常出現在相關的音樂文獻中，混雜在家族中各音樂家的名字裡。

喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔‧博迪奧的父親是喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔‧保羅‧博迪奧(Giovanni Battista Paulo Bodio, 1751-1826) ，他是十八世紀末威尼斯相當活躍的小提琴家，同時也是劇院總監，一般稱他為喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔一世 (GioBatta I)，以與兒子有所區分。然而，喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔(Biobatta II)卻沒有承襲博迪奧家族優異的提琴演奏的事業，顯然，喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔‧博迪奧並非從父親那兒學到製琴技術。

1794年，他從父親身上習得基礎藝術及提琴演奏方法，並以此開始發展；1799年與死後被稱為「文盲藝術家」卡蜜拉 (Laura Camera)結婚。早期也許是出於經濟因素，一直與雙親同住在Campo San Polo。此後1805年至1811年間，根據登記的資料，這個家庭的狀態並沒有改變。1805年時，喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔‧博迪奧的職業登記為小提琴演奏家，但在1811年卻變成為法國號及小號專長。這個改變或許出自於登記員的失誤，但也可推測出，喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔‧博迪奧的成就大不如父親，為了補足生活上的經濟問題，同時得從事小號演奏或是製琴工作。其經濟窘境也可從太太的藝術家（可能是歌唱家）身分看出端倪。當時社會上比較傳統的家族或是一般階級中，妻子身分多為家管，不需出外工作，而卡蜜拉出外賺錢的情形反而被認為不得體，因此也透露出家中經濟狀況不甚優渥的訊息。

至今依然無法得知喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔‧博迪奧的製琴手藝承襲何人，一般認為他可能在1785-1832年間與父執長輩朱塞佩‧博迪奧 (Giuseppe Bodio) 學習。朱塞佩‧博迪奧曾於1779年左右短暫地在喬治‧歇拉費 (Giorgio Seraphin, c. 1726-17751726-1775）名下替梅蒂卡尼養育院（Mendicanti hospital）製琴。(十八世紀的養育院充滿有活力的音樂活動，但至十九世紀全然絕跡，成為孤苦老人寓所。) 一般人常將這兩位「博迪奧」製琴師混淆，以為這批琴是喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔‧博迪奧的作品，但實際上，他當時僅是一位年約十歲的小孩子，提琴應只是冠上他的名字，而非他的作品！

父親喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔一世於1826年逝世於養育院 （Ospedaletto），太太於1836年逝世，在她逝世的前幾年，是喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔‧博迪奧作品產量最豐富的期間。然而，這或許和奧地利政府於1835年所頒布的藝術工匠命令有關，政府要求獨立工作及沒有工作室的藝術家和工藝師，必須至交易所登記並開始繳納稅賦。喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔‧博迪奧屬於這一類，命令頒布後依然繼續在家工作，但根據記錄資料，其1832年至1835年間的作品明顯少了很多，這很可能是在此時期完成的提琴，標記成在法令頒佈前完成的作品，如此便可以減輕稅賦壓力。1849年7月22日因摔傷而入院，兩個月後逝世於new Civic Hospital，享年73歲。

喬凡尼‧巴蒂斯塔‧博迪奧的提琴承襲威尼斯提琴傳統，帶著油滑明亮的琴漆色澤。總體說來其工藝相當細緻，目前有許多提琴偷偷冠上他的名字，流竄於世。

Petrus Paulus de Vitor, fc. 1720-1740

現今對德‧維克多的生平所知相當有限，至於其所留存的樂器，也相當稀少。據有限資料推測，雖然無法詳盡查明師承何人，但卻可推論出他受到威尼斯製琴學派影響，特別是當時的製琴大師多梅尼科‧莫塔耶納 (Domenico Montagnana, 1687-1750)。德‧維克多的樂器結合威尼斯與(Bozen)風格，特別與莫塔耶納於1720年代製作的小提琴面板幅度及琴漆色澤相仿，琴頭的型態亦相當優美漂亮。具有極高的工藝技術。莫塔耶納當時乃以約克柏．史戴納 (Jacob Stainer, c. 1617-c. 1683) 的提琴為基礎製作，雖然他的成品風格已沒有那麼強烈的史戴納風味，但依然散發著德國琴的氣息。