of at least two different violins.
into account wood
shrinkage and the use of a different set of
corner templates, the whole thing might
work out. Also there is an extra set of dots
(Fig. 6) which is very similar to the
prominent model on the G-drawing (the
bigger one). If you disregard the position of
dot 1, it can be put quite freely on the lower
curve of the c bout without making much
difference in the overall outcome.
The same can be found on the drawing for the P-form. Here, at first glance, we are left with only the right half of a drawing. But in fact it does have a centre line, which you can, as far as I know, only establish with both sides of the ribs as mentioned above. If you make a mirror image of the right side curves onto the left, you can place all the visible dots on the left onto that line (Fig. 4). However, as with the G-model, these dimensions do not match the P-mould very well (Fig. 5), though with some imagination, and taking
into account wood
shrinkage and the use of a different set of
corner templates, the whole thing might
work out. Also there is an extra set of dots
(Fig. 6) which is very similar to the
prominent model on the G-drawing (the
bigger one). If you disregard the position of
dot 1, it can be put quite freely on the lower
curve of the c bout without making much
difference in the overall outcome.
At this point it might be worth asking which drawing tool Stradivari used. Does anyone know if, circa 1700, pencils similar to ours were in use? Could the writing have faded?
Is this maybe why the left (also
lighter) side of the P-drawing doesn't show
any lines? Or have they been erased? In any
case Stradivari must have occasionally
considered it important to trace these
' pencil' lines with ink, maybe to underline
the importance of commissions such as the
CV and TV viola for the Grand Duke of
Tuscany ? Also, these ink drawings
show a good deal of skill if they were not traced off
the actual ribs - and no maker would do this
with ink, unless a mm was planed off the ribs afterwards
