Antonio Stradivari 1703
"MILANOLLO - HEMBERT"

At the turn of the century Stradivari was a mature man. Despite the fact that he was almost sixty

years of age, he did not leave his workshop but kept working incessantly in the twenty years to

follow crafting the finest products ever made in the history of violin-making.

The instruments built at the beginning of the Eighteenth Century are a sort of showcase, fine

examples of what the master foresaw and had in store for the future ahead. George Hart described

this short but intense period: “From about 1700 his instruments show to us much of that which

follows later. The outline is changed, but the curves, blending one with another, are beautiful in the

extreme. The corners are treated differently. The wood used for the backs and sides is most

handsome, having a broad curl. The scrolls are of bold conception, and finely executed. The varnish

also is very rich, and leaves nothing to be desired.”1 Also the renowned Hill Brothers wrote about

the characteristics of the instruments from that time: “The varnish is of a beautiful soft texture and

fine orange-red tint colour; the wood of the backs is invariably of broad markings, more generally

in two pieces, and that of the bellies is still inclined to be close in the grain.”2

The violin Milanollo bears an original label “Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno

1703”, of which only the first figure is printed. In the opinion of Prof. Claudio Amighetti, teacher of

Restoration at the renowned Scuola di Liuteria in Cremona, the label states 1708 and not 1703.

Since he had the opportunity to hold the instrument in his hands, Prof. Amighetti is convinced for

several reasons that it was manufactured later than 1703: “At first it reminded me very much of the

Engleman from 1709 because of the shape of the F-holes, particularly refined in the upper part,

besides its rounded form and the delicate purfling”, said Prof. Amighetti. “The years around 1708

and 1709 are characterised by F-holes particularly curved with long and slender edges, slightly

hook-shaped, which remind very much of the works between 1695 and 1699, the last period of the

‘long Strad’. It seems like Stradivari thought the F-holes over and went back to a type that he used

ten years earlier. Soon after the Cremonese master returned to the model of the G form that brought

him into the most mature part of the ‘golden period’. Being dubious on the label, I checked it under

the light of Wood, applying a filtrated ultraviolet light to it, thus, it became undoubtedly clear that

the last digit is an 8 and not a 3.”, Prof. Amighetti concluded.

The name Milanollo was given to the violin because this was at a certain point the instrument of

Teresa Milanollo, the famous Italian violinist of the Nineteenth Century, who often played in

concert together with her younger sister Maria-Margherita, succeeding in a brilliant career

throughout Europe. Henry Charles Lahee reported that “The two sisters […] were called, on account

of their most striking characteristics Mlle. Staccato and Mlle. Adagio.”3

The name Hembert was a later acquisition, having the violin been owned also by G. Hembert, a

French collector, who was a pupil of the violinist Marius Casadeus.

The Milanollo has a two-piece back of handsome maple, characterised by a broad curl starting from

the joint and descending towards the flanks. The sides and the head are also made of maple, with a

less pronounced curl. The head in particular was poetically described by Marcel Vatelot: “Eclisses

en magnifique érable à ondes un peu plus douces.”4 The table is in two pieces of pine with a fine

grain in the centre that broadens on the flanks. The varnish is of a warm orange-red-brown colour

applied over a golden base.

Overall, the violin was judged by William Henley as “A very beautiful instrument”5.

In fact, the Milanollo is not only made of a superb wood but its acoustic qualities are also excellent,

as recorded by the Swiss dealer Henry Werro in his certificate: “Eine sehr feine Tongeige in sehr

gutem Zustand.”6

W. Henley provided the information regarding the first known owner of the violin: “The musical

instrument maker, Nicolas Darche of Aix La Chapelle, stated that this instrument had been owned

by Ronald Stephenson, a London banker and collector who had possessed several Strads, the

collection having been dispersed by public sale in 1840.”7 The information provided by Darche

must be accurate as he acquired the violin directly from Stephenson’s collection in 1840 and sold it

the following year to J. Milanollo, father of Teresa and Maria-Margherita. The oldest daughter of

Milanollo played the instrument for more than five years and in 1851 her father sold it to the Count

Amadée Berthe de Pommery of Nancy, France for the sum of 1,500 francs8. In 1880 the Milanollo

was bought by Georges Floch, a lawyer and fellow-citizen of the Count. Subsequently it was owned

by the violinist J. Lombard, and afterward by a collector from St. Marie aux Mines in Alsace, by the

name of Koenig. After the death of Koenig, around 1939, the instrument was in the hands of the

French violinist and composer Marius Casadesus, who performed with it in public for several years.

At a certain point Casadesus handed it down to his pupil, the French collector G. Hembert. In 1967

the Milanollo was possessed by the Swiss Dr. Daniel Bach of Lausanne, who sold it to a private

owner in Venice, Italy, on the 7th of November 1983, through the dealer Peter Biddulph.

The Milanollo was exhibited in La Chaux-de-Fond9, Switzerland, in 1993, and in Castel S.

Angelo10, Roma, Italy, in 2001.

The two instruments owned by the sisters Teresa and Maria Margherita Milanollo, the violin

Dragonetti / Milanollo from 1728 and the Herbert / Milanollo, were reunited for some time in the

prestigious collection of the current owner of the latter. Subsequently the Dragonetti / Milanollo was

exchanged for the Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia of 1703, and the instruments were

‘separated’ once again. In October 2004, for the centenary of the death of Teresa Milanollo, the two

violins of the sisters Milanollo were exhibited in Savigliano, Italy.

 

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