Domenico Montagnana, liutaio of Lendinara

of Leonardo Finotti, artistic responsible ofthe Polesine Association Music - Lendinara..

To least lendinaresi, at least until years 1997-1998, it was famous that the brilliant constructor of musical instruments Domenico Montagnana was they concittadino. But also between the attache's to the jobs, students, strumentisti and liutai, there were strong doubts on the place of origin of the Master and on its date of birth. Some Italian and English important banns of musicologico character, were usual in fact to affix an interrogative point on the personal identifying datum of the birth, or to indicate 1687, rather than 1686 as year in which Domenico saw the light, the others they even assumed Venice as place in which the liutaio it had the NATO them.

They have been the searches carried out from then the President of the Polesine Association Music, Ramis Tenan, in the course of 1997 in Arches to you of the Parish of S. Sofia in Lendinara and from Riccardo Vianello, to Venice, to definitively dirimere the doubts that still circulated between the experts on the atmosphere of origin of Montagnana and on its family.
And it is necessary here to recognize the merits of the communal Administration of Lendinara that, in biennium 1997/98, has supported economically three fundamental initiatives that have contributed to throw again of the figure and the work of this its son hour of the all legittimato one:

to) the first extension of works of realized Domenico the 7 September ' 97 to Boldrin Palace;

b) a convention of tenutosi studies the 25 of the same year;

c) the presentation to the public, in the October of the ' 98, the first monography-catalogue of jobs of Montagnana, cured from liutai cremonesi the Carlson, Cacciatori and Neumann.

Birth certificate

Marriage certificate of the parents

Addì 29 June 1686 - Saturday.
Domenico, legitimate son of M. Paulo Montagnana and D.na Andreana, its legitimate one consorte;
it appears... cel. Don Carl Liberatti;
to comare Angelic D.na, moglie of Cristoforo Bolpati, christened from me Sicchieri Angel, cured;
been born day 24 approximately to the three hours of night.

The documents find again to you show in inequivocabile way like the roots of the family of the liutaio, were grafted in the lendinarese territory already to leave from the second half of 1500. The grandfather of Domenico, at the beginning of 1600, was the only "pettenone" (constructor of rules in wood employs you for the webbing) present in Lendinara. The art of the footwear, beside the working of the wood, is the other atmosphere in which the Montagnana family is inserted. The brother of Domenico, Ludovico, will exercise in fact to Venice the profession of "calegher", shoemaker, just in the same years in which Ours it is asserted in the lagoon city like liutaio.

One of the more controversial aspects and to tutt' today still unsolved, regards the years of the formation of Domenico. Famous E' that the lendinarese citizen had made itself to appreciate, since the Rinascimento, like important center for the intarsiatura of the wood with the Canozi, appreciates masters to you also in the preparation of varnishes depositing on their works. To the beginning of 1600, Lendinara could count moreover on the presence in just the territory of several monastiche communities and some important nobiliari families, let alone of a Jewish community that helped, with two Regolators, the veneziano Pretore in the administration of the civil community.

From who Domenico it has been introduced to the art of the liuteria, how many years it has passed in the apprenticeship of the construction of the instruments to arc, if to Lendinara or Venice, at first like garzone and subsequently like worker, knowledge is not given. To judgment of Renè Vannes and Low, curatore Alberto of the Dictionary of Music and the Musicians published from the UTET, it seems that already around to the 1712 Montagnana it was present to Cremona, as student of Stradivari and Bergonzi, and as subsequently responsible of one own bottega. According to other sources (Charles Beare, Stefano Toffolo) you would look at yourself already active to Venice to leave from 1699.

To supply an exaustive answer to these interrogated to you, are, to a.nostro.parere, enterprise still much arduous, in spite of the encouraging turn out you of the recent archival acquisitions. That does not remove that they can be formulated hour, in the light of the reflections that the three initiatives, which more was pointed out over, have produced, of the hypotheses still more credible that concur, to a.nostro.parere, one more and more detailed artistic positioning of the figure of Domenico. The archival searches carried out in the city of Cremona, do not signal the presence of Domenico in the Lombardic city ne' like garzone, ne' like holder of just a laboratory in city, in the brought back period over. Not only. From a careful analysis of the works of the Montagnana, references to the purity and the equilibrium of the lines of the instruments of the cremonese school do not emerge. The work of Ours characterizes in fact for one series of "small imperfections forms them" strangers to the best cremonese tradition.

Its first constructive experiences can with greater probability be made to go back to the tirolese school of Jacob Steiner. Various its realizations, completed before 1720, have in fact a rather stocky design, short and lengthened, than it makes us to more turn the look to the north of the Europe that not to Cremona, even if cartigli of many the its instruments, bring back the dicitura "Sub Signum Cremonae".

The same dimensions of its violoncelli, famous by now all over the world for always to have been played from the best interpreters, bring back a length of cm. 74-75, light inferior one to celebre "elaborated the B shape" from Antonio Stradivari for its instruments, that it involved for violoncelli one measure of cm. 79. To that marked amplitude of the cells of Montagnana regarding those of Stradivari must be added one. The hypothesis turns out therefore more reliable that Domenico had elaborated the own constructive standards making reference to the works of Matteo Goffriller and its suocero Martinus Kaiser, first to introduce the violoncello to Venice.

A data however is sure. From it arches to you of State to Venice, finds the presence of Montagnana in the lagoon city to leave from the 1715, year in which it is introduced already like liutaio, opening one its bottega in Calle of the Stagneri, neighbor to the Bridge of Rialto, after to have obtained from the corporation of the Merciai, professional order in which the liutai were inserted, the permission of exercise to the profession, than normally could not be granted if not previa test of practised professionality for an arc of 5 - 7 years to the dependencies of a master officially recognized.