Guadagnini Violin: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This violin was made by Giovanni Baptista Guadagnini in Milan, Italy in 1752. Giovanni Baptista Guadagnini (known as “J. B.”), the son of the violin maker Lorenzo Guadagnini was born in Piacenza in 1711. He became the most famous member of this family of makers which extends into the 20th Century. J. B. was trained by his father, Lorenzo in Piacenza. In 1749 he moved to Milan and remained there until 1758. This violin is made of a two-piece table of spruce with wide, even grain, one-piece back of maple cut on the quarter with medium figure descending to the right, ribs and grafted pegbox and scroll of similar maple, and red-orange varnish.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1752
• maker: Guadagnini, Joannes Baptista
• Object Name: violin
• Physical Description: spruce (table material)
• Physical Description: maple (back material)
• Measurements: overall: 23 3/4 in x 8 1/4 in x 3 7/8 in; 60.325 cm x 20.955 cm x 9.8425 cm
• Place Made: Italy: Lombardy, Milan
• ID Number: 1984.0769.01
• catalog number: 1984.0769.01
• accession number: 1984.0769
• Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter D. Ludwig
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.