The Rosenberg Collection Part II – Milan

From Cremona, the Rosenberg collection takes us to Milan. Evidently the Milanese makers must have been of particular fascination to Rosenberg himself. His collection celebrates the Lombardy capital as intensively and comprehensively as it does Cremona. It begins with an absolutely stunning Giovanni Grancino I dated 1698. Although geographically close to Cremona, violin making in Milan developed only in the mid-17th century, and Giovanni, of the third generation of makers in the family, developed a distinctively beautiful style, strongly influenced by the Amati family, but very personal in effect.

The low arching and extended Stradivari-like soundholes look very advanced and sophisticated, and the workmanship is extraordinarily delicate, with the scroll carved with sharp and deep definition. The quality and condition of the varnish is a particular merit of this violin, however. The rich, entirely natural texture shows the depth and levels of the application, and the slightly clotted surface concentrates the red-brown colouration dramatically. As with so many other violins in the collection, this is a perfect reference point for understanding the maker. Yet there is another Rosenberg Grancino, labelled 1704, which is varnished quite differently, and in equally fine condition. It almost certainly shows the involvement of Giovanni II, the son, who was active in the family workshop before his father’s death in 1709. This violin is as finely worked as the 1698 example, but has a clear and even golden varnish, possibly a simpler and more durable recipe, but still a vivid and glowing coating.

Another pupil and assistant of the Grancinos was the more widely-known Carlo Giuseppe Testore, whose work certainly shows another slight falling away from his master, but to a different extent to Lavazza. A violin here, attributed to c.1720, has a similar textured and pigmented varnish to that of the 1698 Grancino, again in wonderfully pure and tender state. The head is probably the work of Carlo’s son, Carlo Antonio, and is of an exaggerated form that became a hallmark of the Testore family.

It is then a short step to Pietro Giovanni Manteggazza, whose viola marks almost the last of the Milanese work in the collection. He was probably taught by Landolfi, and became the leading maker in Milan by the turn of the nineteenth century. His work, perfectly exemplified by this instrument, is far more disciplined than that of the Testores, and conveys an almost academic approach, informed by wider sources, such as the clear Amati influence in this case, and almost certainly by his contact with the dealer and connoisseur Count Cozio di Salabue.

This Mantegazza viola is again a beautifully preserved and definitive example, but the final word on the Milanese school from the Rosenberg collection is a lovely twentieth century violin by Gaetano Sgarabotto, who worked primarily in Milan from 1893 until 1928. It is a beautifully-made homage to Giovanni Grancino, replicating the distinctive scroll form amongst other details. It is yet another reference example of a particular maker, in this case a maker often difficult to characterise because of his wide choice of models, and his wide influence as a teacher. This twentieth-century violin brings the long history of the Milanese school into a very satisfying full-circle.