Handel With Care

Italian luthier and crafter of string instruments Antonio Stradivari died on this day in 1737.

Stradivari is considered to be the greatest artisan in the field, and his patterns and craftsmanship are still favoured by many string instrument players today. Stradivari produced an estimated 1,116 instruments ofwhich only 650 survived, including ‘The Messiah’ which you can see on display in our Music and Tapestry gallery.

‘The Messiah’ was made at the height of Stradivari’s career, and represents the pinnacle of string instrument craft. Despite being built in 1716, the violin is almost unworn with carving is as crisp as the day it was made and the painted edge-work on the scroll intact. The violin owes its condition to the fact that it has always been a collectors piece. It earned its name from a collector in Piedmont who kept it in its case, but often boasted of it to his friends - like the Messiah, it was eagerly awaited but did not appear.

See it on display in gallery 39.

bass clef: simple and very easy to draw. not hard to understand how music works in it at all. an easy clef to read and to write in. 10/10.

treble clef: equally as easy to understand the musical layout of this clef. first one i learned. however, trying to draw one is impossible. i know exacty what it is supposed to look like but i can’t replicate it for the life of me. fairly easy clef to read and to write in, at least if you’re using a computer or manuscript paper with pre-printed clefs, but if you’re writing manually, good luck trying to actuallu draw the clef. 8.5/10.

do clef: helpful when you don’t have a specific key. points to do. nice. 6/10.

rhythm clef: nice. simple. good for percussion or for laying out rhythms, but doesn’t do much else. fairly simple. not a bad clef. 4/10.

Viola da Braccio, Musical Instruments

Medium: Spruce and bird’s-eye maple

The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Proud Family (violin)

One of my favorite theme songs of all time. I miss this show so much.

Quinton d'Amore by Jean Colin, Musical Instruments

Medium: Wood, ebony, bone

Purchase, Clara Mertens Bequest, in memory of André Mertens, 1990 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY