uments
formed the stepping-stones to Italian Violin-making, for it is evident
that they were in use long before the first era of the Violin. The
Brescian Violins have not the appearance of antiquity that is
noticeable in the Double-basses or Tenors, and for one Brescian Violin
there are ten Double-basses, a fact which goes far to prove that the
latter was the principal instrument at that time.

[Illustration: _Plate IV_. ANTONIO STRADIVARI. Date 1734. (LATE LORD
AMHERST OF HACKNEY.) THE EMPEROR "STRAD." Date 1715. (LATE GEO.
HADDOCK, ESQ.) GUARNERI DEL GESU. Date 1734. (LATE LORD AMHERST OF
HACKNEY.)]

From Brescia came the masters who established the School of Cremona.
The Amatis took the lead, their founder being Andrea Amati, after whom
each one of the clan appears to have gained a march on his
predecessor, until the grand masters of their art, Antonio Stradivari
and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu, advanced far beyond the reach of their
fellow-makers or followers. The pupils of the Amati, Stradivari, and
Guarneri settled in Milan, Florence, and other cities previously
mentioned as centres of Violin-making, and thus formed the distinct
character or School belonging to each city. A close study of the
various Schools shows that there is much in common among them. A
visible individuality is found throughout the works of the Italian
makers, which is not to be met with in anything approaching the same
degree in the similar productions of other nations. Among the
Italians, each artist appears to have at first implicitly obeyed the
teaching of his master, afterwards, as his knowledge increased,
striking out a path for himself. To such important acts of
self-reliance may be traced the absolute perfection to which the
Italians at last attained. Not content with the production of
instruments capable of producing the best tone, they strove to give
them the highest finish, and were rewarded, possibly beyond their
expectation. The individuality noticed as belonging in a high degree
to Italian work is in many instances very remarkable. How
characteristic the scroll and the sound-hole of each several maker!
The work of master and pupil differs here in about the same degree as
the handwriting of father and son, and often more. Although Stradivari
was a pupil of Niccolo Amati, yet how marked is the difference between
the scrolls and sound-holes of these two makers; Carlo Bergonzi worked
with Stradivari, yet the productions of these two