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Instruments of Antonio Stradivari’s early period are generally classifi ed as “Amatise” – that is, strongly influenced by the work of the Amati family, of whom he was thought to be a pupil. In fact his very first known instruments, dating from 1666, are very personal in design and show relatively little direct connection with Nicolo Amati’s workshop, at that time the dominant force in Cremonese violin making. However, by the 1680s, Stradivari’s work had become more mainstream, and more
obviously indebted to the Amati heritage. Th e “Arditi” is a fully developed example of this style, with a pattern based on the classical “grand Amati” outline, but with several original features. It is in an exceptional state of preservation.
Many of Stradivari’s original forms on which his violins were made still exist in the Museo Stradivariano in Cremona. Of these, only two predate 1689 and could have been the origin of the “Arditi”. One is marked “MB”, and another “S”. Th e “S” form is slightly longer and most likely to be the one used. Both follow the proportions of the Amati pattern with only slight alterations of line. Where Stradivari departs from the mati model is most obvious in the corners, which he made shorter and broader, and in this period the upper corners have a very particular downward slope and a tight inner radius. The arching, like Amati’s, is full but with a broad channel around the edge. The purfling is narrow and delicate, yet the soundholes are broad, open, and dramatically placed, with broad, deeply fl uted lower wings. The scroll owes much to Amati in form, and is carved to a perfect fi nish with an unsurpassed harmony to the lines of the pegbox and spiral. Nevertheless, the scroll, and indeed the entire violin is slightly bolder and heavier than the Amati in all aspects. The varnish is the deep amber colour typical of Stradivari and in fact all Cremonese work in this period, and covers a well-fi gured two-piece maple back with matched ribs and scroll. The front is made from the very fine-grained spruce, which is common on Stradivari’s violins in this period.
Its recorded history goes back to 1846, and in the space of that year it passed through the hands of a Signor Carli, then the Duc de Litta of Milan, and fi nally the Piedmont born violinist and composer Luigi Arditi after whom it is named. Arditi died in 1903, but the next appearance of the violin was in the celebrated collection of the London businessman Gerald Segelman. After Segelman’s death in 1992, the collection was dispersed, and the “Arditi” was sold to Howard Gottlieb of Chicago. The London dealer and expert Peter Biddulph has now arranged its move to Norway as part of the Dextra Musica Foundation.
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