The numerous urban transformations of the luthier world in Cremona—from the birth of what is known as “Classical Violin Making” (Andrea Amati 1505–1510 / 1577) up to the present day—offer the starting point for a new vision of knowledge about Cremonese violin making, and more broadly about Cremona as a city not only of the violin, but above all of music, spanning from the sixteenth century to the great era of nineteenth-century melodramatic opera. All of this is supported by significant elements of musical iconography contemporary with the early phases of violin making in Cremona.

A functional operation aimed at outlining a project hypothesis linked to tourism and to the cultural identity of the “city of music”.

One must first start from a fundamental historical fact. The Renaissance and Baroque luthier workshop, as suggested by the extensive iconographic panorama of the city’s churches, was very different from the ‘solitary’ one that (…) we have become accustomed to seeing today. (…) the numerous types of instruments present in local iconography suggest that luthiers possessed knowledge relating to the construction of a wide variety of instruments [Giampaolo Gregori, “Considerations on Violin Making in Cremonese Renaissance Iconography,” in Strumenti, Musica e Ricerca – Proceedings of the International Conference, Cremona 28–29 October 1994, International Triennial Association of Bowed Instruments, p. 117].

The starting point of this analysis is the so-called urban identification of what was later called the Cantone dei liutai (Violin Makers’ Corner). The focal point, as can be inferred from documentary material, was the now-suppressed church of San Domenico (run by the Dominican order), burial place of Andrea Amati and Antonio Stradivari, and the nearby parish of Santi Faustino e Giovita, also suppressed. Both were located between today’s Piazza Roma, Via Guarneri del Gesù, and Corso Campi.

A proximity that was not merely physical, but one that gave rise to a powerful intertwining of people, knowledge, and innovation.

One need only browse the pages of history, starting from the family from which the entire world of violin making developed: the Amati family. Archival sources report that the master Andrea Amati, son of Gottardo—himself an artisan—rented a house with a workshop in 1539 in the parish of Santi Faustino e Giovita. The ancient parish of Santi Faustino e Giovita (commonly called San Faustino) stood at the corner of Contrada della Colonna and Via de’ Coltellai (today Corso Campi and Via Guarneri respectively).

A later document dated 1576 attests that the house with workshop belonged to Andrea and also confirms his activity: “Magister Andrea di Amadis in casa suva: l’arte suva se de far instrumenti de sonar…” (“Master Andrea Amati in his house: his craft is to make musical instruments…”).

Girolamo Amati (c. 1550–1630) and Antonio Amati (c. 1540–1607) worked in that house. Later came Girolamo’s son: Nicolò Amati (1596–1684). In Nicolò’s workshop also worked Andrea Guarneri (1623–1698).

The Stradivari family. Antonio, considered the supreme luthier (c. 1644–1737), trained in the workshop of Nicolò Amati, located in the parish of San Faustino. After working in the area of Sant’Agata parish, he moved in 1680 to the parish of San Faustino, right in front of the church of San Domenico. There, his sons Francesco Stradivari (1671–1743) and Omobono Stradivari (1679–1742) worked with him, alongside other luthiers such as Domenico Montagnana, Alessandro Gagliano, Lorenzo Guadagnini, and also Carlo Bergonzi.

The Guarneri family. The founder Andrea Guarneri (1623–1698) was closely associated with Nicolò Amati’s workshop in the same area of the city of the Amatis.

The Bergonzi family. The main representative and founder was Carlo Bergonzi (1676–1683). His family had numerous contacts with the Rugeri family, developing within the daily life of the parish of San Silvestro (the church of the Raimondi family, next to Palazzo Raimondi, with its apse facing Strada Magistra, now Corso Garibaldi), and later in San Luca. It is suggested that Carlo learned the craft from Vincenzo Rugeri (1663–1719).

In 1840 the workshop still existed, run by the last Bergonzi luthier, Benedetto, who is said to have also been a musician and composer.

Carlo Bergonzi died in 1747; these were the terrible years of Cremonese violin making: between 1737 and 1749 Antonio Stradivari and his sons, Guarneri “del Gesù” and his father Giuseppe, Carlo Bergonzi, and finally Girolamo II Amati all disappeared. In the city, Carlo Bergonzi’s sons Michele Angelo (1721–1758) and Zosimo (1724–1779) unwillingly experienced the slow and gradual decline of the city.

The year 1840 marks the definitive closure of classical violin making. Less than a century later, at the end of the 1920s, the Fascist regime began an urban restructuring that led in 1933 to Roberto Farinacci inaugurating for the first time the Galleria (then Via 23 Marzo, now Via 25 Aprile); a second inauguration took place exactly one year later in 1934.

To build this imposing structure, the houses facing the ancient square in front of the church of San Domenico were demolished—precisely those that had formed the so-called Cantone dei liutai, the main center of violin-making craftsmanship in Cremona during its two golden centuries. This definitively erased places of continuous passage of luthiers and apprentices moving from one workshop to another, creating a kind of “community of individuals,” beyond disputes and family feuds that nonetheless existed.

The loss of place and of the capacity for innovation was also driven by changes in musical taste: opera had taken full dominance, to the detriment of instrumental music, which instead was advancing in Northern Europe, particularly in German areas and, for bowed instruments, in France and Paris.

In reality, the Fascist regime attempted to recover the legacy of Cremonese violin making. In 1937, on the 200th anniversary of the death of Stradivari, Cremona organized a major “Exhibition of Ancient Violin Making,” displaying 41 Stradivari instruments, along with works by Guarneri del Gesù and Nicolò Amati. The event was used to strengthen the regime’s image, alongside the “National Competition of Modern Violin Making,” which saw the participation of 119 makers, supporting the Italian violin-making tradition. Although Roberto Farinacci supported the return of Stradivari relics to Cremona, in 1930 the ceremony for the transfer of instruments sold by Count Cozio di Salabue took place without great publicity, despite Fascist propaganda usually celebrating such events.

However, in those years a new spring was already beginning to germinate, albeit overshadowed by war, starting with Giuseppe Fiorini, who in 1920 purchased the Stradivari legacy—a collection of original forms, models, and tools—which he donated to the Museo del Violino in Cremona in 1930, influencing a luthier of the calibre of Simone Fernando Sacconi.

The International School of Violin Making was founded in Cremona in 1938, becoming a leading institution in traditional Cremonese violin making and part of the “Antonio Stradivari” Institute.

Another small step in restoring classical violin making was the purchase, on 18 December 1961, of the 1715 Stradivari known as “Il Cremonese,” carried out by the Provincial Tourism Board of Cremona, bringing the precious instrument back to its city of origin, where it is now preserved in the Museo del Violino. In 1970, thanks to the entrepreneur Walter Stauffer, an enlightened Swiss-Italian patron deeply connected to Cremona, the foundation bearing his name was established, also dedicated to preserving the violin-making tradition.

In Cremona, from 1976 onwards, the Triennial of Bowed Instruments took shape with the “Antonio Stradivari” Triennial Competition.

In the 1980s and 1990s, figures such as Giobatta Morassi (and his son Simeone), Bissolotti, and other masters active since the 1970s continued to train new generations, maintaining high qualitative standards.

Training and innovation: the violin-making school attracted international students, and masters such as Wanna Zambelli contributed to the transmission of the craft.

Revival of tradition: in the 1980s and 1990s, Cremonese violin making reasserted itself globally, with luthiers continuing to follow the classical Cremonese tradition.

In 2013, the Museo del Violino was inaugurated. It is precisely in these years that one witnesses the reconstitution of the so-called “cantoni dei liutai,” also thanks to the flourishing violin-making ecosystem supported by foundations and cultural institutions. A phenomenon that expanded across the entire city, also taking advantage of the closure of many retail businesses in the historic centre. Many artisans opened workshops side by side.

The geography is clear and can be easily traced.

A first cluster includes Via Robolotti, Via Aselli, Via Manzoni, and Via Teodolinda, where today around 20 workshops can be found in a very small area.

A second cluster is identifiable in Corso Pietro Vacchelli and Via XX Settembre, where additional nearby workshops are located.

A third cluster appears around Piazza Sant’Antonio Maria Zaccaria and Via Sicardo.

A fourth cluster is located near Piazza Marconi and around the Museo del Violino.

A fifth cluster extends along Corso Garibaldi from its beginning up to the church of San Luca, with several important presences, including what is considered the first home/workshop of Antonio Stradivari.

The formation of these clusters is not only useful for restoring the practices of Cremona’s golden age of violin making with its artistic and anthropological dimensions; it is also essential for a new vision—especially a touristic one—of Cremona as a city of the violin, but even more so of bowed instruments and music in general.

These circuits are based on three fundamental elements: violin-making craftsmanship through workshops, musical sites, and musical iconography.

Here are some examples.

Regarding the first cluster (Robolotti, Aselli, Manzoni, Teodolinda): musical sites are numerous. Piazza Roma (east side), former Hotel Roma: Pietro Mascagni and the Cremonese nights with torchlight processions of supporting choirs. Piazza Roma (west side), Galleria XXV Aprile: Giuseppe Verdi and the house of his sister-in-law Barberina Strepponi, younger sister of Giuseppina. Piazza Roma (garden side), Galleria XXV Aprile: the last home of Antonio Stradivari, his burial place, and San Domenico.

Also within this cluster is the church of Sant’Abbondio, where the baptismal record of Claudio Monteverdi is preserved, along with important musical iconography, including works by Galeazzo Campi and Tommaso Aleni depicting lutes, viols, and recorders, as well as Orazio Samacchini with his viola da gamba and trombone.

Regarding the third cluster (Piazza Sant’Antonio Maria Zaccaria, Via Sicardo, and Piazza del Comune): Via Bordigallo / Via Solferino includes the hotel that hosted Johannes Brahms with Cremonese risotto; Via Solferino includes the Sperlari shop, where Giuseppe Verdi and his piano are remembered among chocolates; Piazza del Comune includes the Albergo della Colombina, where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart stayed in Cremona, the city of the Torrazzo.

There are countless examples of musical iconography in the Cathedral, including one of the earliest depictions of the modern violin and numerous musical instruments in the decoration of the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, as well as in the church of San Gerolamo, where wind instruments such as trumpets and horns are depicted.

Regarding the fourth cluster (Piazza Marconi and surrounding streets), the Museo del Violino serves as a key musical site, along with San Pietro al Po, a basilica containing a large number of iconographic representations of string instruments, painted by the workshops of the Campi and Malosso, ranging from psalteries to various types of violas, as well as harps, trumpets, and percussion instruments.

This is the city, not only of the violin, but of music in its entirety.