A violin by Pietro Guarneri of Venice

What makes this particular violin so dramatic is the back; a single piece of quarter sawn maple, quite plain but for two broad flashes of curl emblazoned across the centre bouts, rippling under the golden ground and the thinly rubbed varnish. The full arch is characteristic, as are the outwardly turned corners. There is more red varnish remaining on the front, which is higher arched than the back, but graced with a very elegant pair of sound holes, cut with large eyes, reminiscent of the work of his uncle, Peter Guraneri of Mantua.

The scroll is also a strong statement of bold, muscular carving, broad across the turns, but finely concentric and deeply cut. The Guarneri family was the most richly imaginative of the Cremonese tradition, and Peter of Venice one of the most brilliant amongst them.