J. B. Guadagnini
| Giovanni Battista Guadagnini | |
|---|---|
| Born |
23 June 1711 Bilegno in Val Tidone, Italy |
| Died | 18 September 1786 (aged 75) Turin, Italy |
| Residence | Piacenza, Milan, Parma and Turin |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Known for | |
| Notable work |
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| Style |
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| Movement | Guadagnini school |
| Elected | Court luthier of Duchy of Parma |
| Patron(s) | |
| Website | www |
Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (or "G. B. Guadagnini"); (23 June 1711 – 18 September 1786) was an Italian luthier, regarded as one of the finest craftsmen of string instruments in history. He is widely considered the third greatest maker after Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri "del Gesù". The Guadagnini family was known for their violins, guitars and mandolins.
Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (Johannes Baptista Guadagnini in Latin), was born while both Stradivari and Guarneri were at the zenith of their production years, roughly 30 km away from the City of Cremona on 23 June 1711 at Bilegno in Val Tidone of Piacenza.
Recent research has shed light as to the influence of both Casa Stradivari and Casa Guarneri of Cremona on the lines of symmetry of instruments by Guadagnini, hence J.B. Guadagnini was still a youth while his father Lorenzo, both in Bilegno and Piacenza, was a contributing maker of instruments for Stradivari's workshop, the leading violin shop in the first half of the 18th century.
Antonio Stradivari died at age 92 in 1737 while J.B. Guadagnini was 26 years old, and Bartolomeo Guarneri del Gesu at 46 in 1744 while Guadagnini was 33. Hence, a logical nexus could be made whereby the young J.B. Guadagnini may have learned the rudiments of the trade in Cremona as he used the internal form with linings and blocks set in the Cremonese style, a method of construction he would use for the rest of his life.
It was the normative use of trade in 18th-century Italy for a young person to start as an apprentice in a master's workshop around age 12, to be allowed to practice a given trade afterward. Guild shops, either in consortium or under one roof, were headed by a master who provided journeymen papers for successful apprentices. Trade guilds, providing career opportunities for skilled tradesmen including musical instrument makers, were a mercantile arrangement in Europe since medieval times, including in Italy. Guilds were a pre-capitalist industrial organization under ducal oversight which regulated trade practice, quality of articles produced, and pricing policies.
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