SALO, GASPAR DI

, Brescia, dates from 1560 to 1610. This celebrated artiste was the contemporary of the ancient Amatis, and is thought by some connoisseurs to have been the master of Andrew. However that may be, as there can be no certainty of the fact, the varnish on which the great Cremonese makers established that notable reputation which distinguishes them to the present day, bears a strong analogy to that of Gaspar di Salo, however they may have derived it. In this respect, also, Gaspar excels Maggini, his pupil and follower, who was evidently not initiated into the secret of making that excellent varnish which characterises his master.

The pattern of the instruments which the two early and famous chiefs of the Cremonese and Brescian Schools built, is however totally different. Those of Gaspar are large, massive, double purfled, and with large sound holes. Andrew is noted for a small pattern, and if he studied in the Brescian workshop, he discarded the style he found there (varnish excepted) and aimed at altogether a different object in his own productions. Those of Gaspar di Salo are constructed with capacity and strength to produce a considerable volume of tone. The Cremonese Artiste on the other hand, made instruments which, both in their proportions and adjustment, were especially adapted for the production of a sweet but not powerful tone. Gaspar's instruments seem to foreshadow in their tone and power, those of Stradiuarius and Joseph Guarnerius, while the Amatis seem generally to have been contented with producing a tone of surpassing sweetness. Gaspar also succeeded in giving to his productions that fine tone which seems to have been especially aimed at by the early makers, but as he also from the size and strength of his instruments, produced more tone, he may be considered far the superior of Andrew, the first of the Amatis. It is on this account that in the present day, Gaspar di Salo is esteemed as the greatest maker of his time, and connoisseurs value his instruments accordingly.

There are not many violins by this great master, but of tenors and double basses more.These are very fine and rich in tone. He was not however famous for giving so very high a finish to his works as was afterwards attained at Cremona. His violins are described as rather long, and with a gentle elevation from the sides to the centre. The sound holes straight and large, well cut and parallel, and double purfling. The varnish is generally of a rich brown. These are the chief external characteristics, but they have always possessed that "which passeth show," and commanded the esteem of the dilettanti in that rich quality of tone which is the first essential in a perfect instrument.

Signor Dragonetti, the greatest double bass player of our day, used one of Gaspar's instruments, which was presented to him on account of their admiration of his wonderful talent, by the order of the Convent of St. Mark at Venice. Shortly before his death the Duke of Leinster offered him £700 for it, a princely sum, but it was refused, as Dragonetti did not feel justified in parting with it, and he ordered in his will that it should be returned to the convent at Venice, which was accordingly done. Ole Bull has a very celebrated violin of Gaspar's make. In the first place, it was sculptured with Caryatides, by the great Florentine artist, Benvenuto Cellini, at the special command of another eminent person, Cardinal Aldobrandini, who presented it to the museum of Inspruck in the Tyrol. In 1809 that city was assaulted by the French, the museum was plundered, and this violin carried to Vienna, where it became the property of another notable person, the Councillor Rehazek, who was famous for his collection of ancient musical instruments. He left it by will to another still more celebrated person, Ole Bull, the distinguished Norwegian violinist, by whom it was exhibited in London in 1862, and with whom it still remains. To our description of Gaspar's instruments we should add that his tenors and double basses are of a rather broader form than his violins.