{"id":1538,"date":"2023-03-09T09:54:54","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T08:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.giordanoviolins.com\/?p=1538"},"modified":"2023-03-09T09:54:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T08:54:54","slug":"in-focus-giovanni-antonio-marchi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.giordanoviolins.com\/en\/in-focus-giovanni-antonio-marchi\/","title":{"rendered":"In focus: Giovanni Antonio Marchi"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1574031663906{margin-bottom: 50px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1678349567396{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\n

Giovanni Antonio Marchi was born on 24 April 1727 in a small village on the outskirts of Bologna. His family had a long tradition of woodworking, but he lost his father when he was eight and was then raised by his uncle Natale. In around 1745 he moved with his family to the city itself. Marchi started working as a violinaro <\/i>(violin maker) around 1755, when he would have been 28. This information comes directly from his own words, taken from the preface of the book on violin making that he wrote in 1786 but which was never published during his lifetime. The book, preserved in Bologna\u2019s Archiginnasio public library, was examined and published in 1986 by the Bolognese violin maker Roberto Regazzi, who undertook intensive research both on Marchi himself and on the milieu of the city in that period. Not much is known about Marchi\u2019s apprenticeship, but it seems very likely that he was trained by the well-known violin maker Giovanni Fiorino Guidante (called \u2018Joannes Florenus Guidantus\u2019on his labels), who was active in Bologna in the first half of the 18th century. By the time Marchi started working on his book, he had gained a reputation as an accomplished restorer and his fame reached Count Cozio di Salabue who, in the early 19th century, contacted him in order to purchase instruments (he was searching for violins by Dom Nicolaus Amati in particular). Cozio admired Marchi\u2019s work and he tried to convince him to work for him in Milan as conservator and restorer of his collection, but owing to his extended years, Marchi turned down the position and he died shortly afterwards, on 20 December 1807. There is little information to be found about Marchi\u2019s pupils. In a letter from 1805 he mentions a \u2018pupil from Rome who was sent to me by Prince Giustiniani\u2019. He had a great influence on the Bolognese violin makers of his age in general, and it is possible that he also trained Giovanni Varotti and the Tadolini Brothers.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Marchi\u2019s Manuscript on Violin Making <\/i>is still the only extant written work by an 18th-century Italian violin maker, and it reflects its author\u2019s personality. Written in good Italian, it demonstrates
\nthat Marchi was a well-educated man. The book was not conceived as a manual for luthiers based solely on measurements and technical methods. Instead, it goes into detail on the basic acoustic and architectural principles of violin making, and it reveals Marchi\u2019s philosophy of making: divided into 13 chapters, it covers matters such as the motto tremulo <\/i>(\u2018vibrating motion\u2019, or resonance), as well as the principles of soundpost setting, the quality of wood, the varnish and much more. In addition, the book is surprisingly enjoyable to read on account of the writer\u2019s frequently ironic comments on the superficiality of the violin making business, the mythology, and the \u2018fake news\u2019 that (even today) are part of the violin trade.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Quotes taken from the luthier\u2019s Manuscript on Violin Making<\/i>:\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n