Decorating a copy of a historical violin

Gold and silver leaf, glass powder and ink are all necessary in this detailed and complex process

ALL PHOTOS MAURIZIO TADIOLI

TRADE SECRETS

Makers reveal their special techniques

Luthier based in Cremona, Italy

In the past, decorated instruments were extremely popular among the nobility of many European countries, but the pictorial decoration was often entrusted to artists other than the luthier who had built the instrument. Professional decorators and artisans were given the task of expressing their skills on the instruments, which above all paid homage to kings and their kingdoms.

About ten years ago my curiosity and passion for this work led me to study how bowed stringed instruments used to be decorated. I then reproduced some of Andrea Amati’s instruments, and built and decorated the Amati ‘King’ cello for the first time in 2017.

In September 2019 the c.1595 ‘King Henry IV’ violin by Antonio and Girolamo Amati, held at the US National Music Museum, arrived at Cremona’s Museo del Violino, giving a chance for me to study and reproduce its decoration. Unfortunately the Covid pandemic meant I couldn’t examine the decoration properly until the reopening of the museum in June 2020.

Making this violin in the year of the pandemic had particular meaning for me: it was a way to ‘exorcise’ this period of isolation that we have endured. I owe special thanks to Claire Givens, Andrew Dipper and the National Museum for the support they gave me during this project.

The instrument is fully varnished

1 The decoration of the original instrument was made on top of the varnish. So for this copy, I begin by varnishing the body and letting it dry completely.

Adding the inscription to the ribs

2 I usually start by decorating the ribs, as they will be the most protected while I’m working on the rest. In this case they are goldleaf inscriptions of Henry IV’s motto. On the original instrument these inscriptions are almost completely worn away, but I prefer to leave a good part of them. First I draw the letters in pencil and apply the gold leaf on an adhesive base of rabbit-hide glue. I clean and burnish each letter with an agate burnisher, before lining the edges with black ink.

Making the central crown

3 Now I start to pencil in the design of the central part of the back decoration. I complete it with gold leaf, following the same procedure as in the previous step.

The central shield is particularly detailed

4 I decorate the central shield of the background by alternating between different water-based acrylic paints, which resemble the tempera grassa used in the past. I also use glass powder, oil colours, pigments and ink.

Gold leaf is used for the lettering

5 In the upper part of the bottom of the instrument, the ‘H’ of ‘Henry’ is almost totally preserved. I draw this in pencil and decorate it with gold leaf.

Antiquing the ‘H’

6 I then apply some colour to the ‘H’. This was originally cobalt blue, which then became ‘water green’ over time. I simulate this effect with different layers of acrylic. Then I render the detail of the decoration around the ‘H’ through strokes of paint, glass powder and fragments of silver leaf.

Copying the other ‘H’

7 The lower part of the back features the same decoration as the upper part, although again, that of the original has almost completely worn off. I use the same methods as in steps 5 and 6 to copy it.

The decoration of the scroll

9 The scroll of the instrument features floral motifs. I render these with gold leaf, glass powder, silver fragments and small green details on the back to simulate oxidation. On the two lateral parts of the scroll and volute, parts of the black contour lines remain visible. I add gold leaf and surround each part with ink.

Four fleurs-de-lys in the corners

8 The top, which on the original instrument has been replaced, shows only four small fleurs-de-lys surmounted by a crown in each of the four corners. I use the gold-leaf technique to copy each one, and then finish them with ink.

The instrument with finished decoration

10 Finally, there are still more details to add, such as fleurs-de-lys, rhombuses in the stems of the ‘H’ and chains, which enrich the decoration and make it more harmonious, but which are almost impossible to see in small photos.

I finish by antiquing all the decorations to match the original, taking inspiration from the original as much as possible. I use a mix of techniques, such as chipping off parts of the paint and adding powder and oil where needed.