ANTONIO BAGATELLA

Despite few of his violins surviving today, Antonio Bagatella is important in violin history for writing one of the first treatises on instrument design. Christian Pabst examines his work and shows how his methods stand up to scrutiny

Very little is known about the life and work of Italian violin maker Antonio Bagatella (1716– 1806). Only seven violins made by him are known, along with a viola (and a piece of a broken back). However, he is of great interest to violin makers on account of having authored one of the first ever treatises on violin making in 1782: Regole per la costruzione de’ violini, viole, violoncelli e violoni. As well as being a historical document in its own right, it is remarkable in that its precepts hold up well for violin makers today, and that luthiers down the centuries have referred to its principles in their own work.

Bagatella was born in Padua and lived there for most of his life. For a limited time he probably worked together with his son, Francesco Antonio II Bagatella (1755–1829). What is otherwise known about his life was largely written down by him: he began playing the violin at the age of about 18 and was introduced to a local (unnamed) violin maker through the intervention of the violinist– composer Giuseppe Tartini (1692–1770), who also lived in Padua. He learnt his skills as a luthier from this master in secret, over the course of two years, after which he began making violins himself. It is reported that after a further two years he felt so competent and competitive that the other violin maker was compelled to leave town. There is evidence to suggest that this was either Giuseppe Galieri from Piacenza, a student of Nicolò Amati, or Giovanni Danieli from Padua.

Title page of Bagatella’s 1782 monograph

Bagatella repeatedly refers to his good contacts with Tartini and his students. Through them, he gained access to instruments by the Amati family, Antonio Stradivari, the Rugeris and Andrea Guarneri. In his work he makes particular reference to the instruments of the Amatis and in particular to those of the Brothers Amati – although, according to him, his construction rules also work for the other Cremonese masters mentioned above.

Bagatella writes that he spent a decade searching for the rules and principles of instrument design, and that he used them for 30 years before committing them to paper. That would put his research around the year 1750. He explicitly refers to the ‘forgotten’ knowledge that he wants to explore – just around 15 years after Stradivari’s death, and only 120 miles from Cremona.