2 mins
CARLO FERDINANDO LANDOLFI
Born around 1710, Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi appears to have turned to instrument making only around the middle of the century. Upon arriving in Milan, he spent time in the workshop of Paolo Antonio Testore, whose influence is clear in his early instruments. Landolfi became one of the most accomplished Italian luthiers of his time, able to turn his hand to all kinds of instruments of different sizes, and passed on his knowledge to Pietro Mantegazza, who went on to become Milan’s finest luthier after Landolfi’s demise in 1784.
Landolfi must have arrived in Milan around the same time as G.B. Guadagnini, whose ‘Milan period’ lasted from 1749 to 1758. As yet, there is no evidence to link them as having worked together, although there are a few similarities between the two makers’ styles. In particular, the varnish on many of Landolfi’s later instruments is a deep reddish brown, and shows similarities to Guadagnini’s varnish during the period he was in Milan.
In 1901, the Hill brothers famously referred to the Milan makers as ‘Milanese cheap-jacks’. This unwelcome description was most probably generated by the great-sounding but quickly made violins by the later members of the Testore family.Between them, Landolfi and Guadagnini helped to reverse this Milanese trend.
MAKER CARLO FERDINANDO LANDOLFI
NATIONALITY ITALIAN
BORN c.1710
DIED 1784
INSTRUMENT CELLO
DATE 1766
ALL PHOTOS PHILIP BROWN
INSTRUMENT
Like those of Guadagnini, Landolfi’s cellos are often made to a size that is slightly smaller than standard. The 1766 cello shown here, from the middle of his working period, has a body length of 723mm and an upper bout width of 329mm. The stop length is 385mm. The reason for this probably goes back to Guadagnini looking to create a brighter and more responsive instrument suitable for a particular soloist.
ARCHING
This cello has rather handsome, full arching in comparison to some of Landolfi’s much more extreme, higherarched earlier work. This may have been picked up from observing Guadagnini, who was taking inspiration from Stradivari. The deep ribs and the good arch make up in some way for the smaller dimensions of the instrument, giving it a powerful, punchy sound with a good tonal range.
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FORM AND CONSTRUCTION
The front is made from six pieces of spruce that are mostly slab-cut. It has a squarish outline and typically very upright f-holes, which are set 108mm apart and have very little in the way of fluting – perhaps an indication of Landolfi’s Germanic roots.
PINS
One interesting idiosyncrasy that Landolfi had was to use wooden pins to secure and locate the upper and lower ribs on to the blocks. I have noted this in several of his instruments. All four in the top-block are visible here, with three still visible on the bottom-block.
VARNISH
The varnish on Landolfi’s later instruments has a lovely thickish quality to it, and is a cooler brown on a golden ground, as on this cello. Whereas on his early work it is often quite varied, here it is well considered and executed.