Vincenzo Rugeri was a pupil of his father Francesco, whom he assisted from the late 1670s. When his father died in 1698, Vincenzo took over the family workshop, and his work moved away from the Amatese influence which had been the bedrock of his father’s work, taking on some elements of Stradivari’s style. This is evident in the low and flat arch of this violin, which places it firmly in the 18th century tradition, and the efficacy of the arching is matched by the dramatic maple of its back.