Giovanni Battista Ceruti came to violin making relatively late in life. He had made his living as a weaver, which is how he was listed in the Cremonese registry in 1787. It wasn’t until he was in his early 40s that he became a full-time maker, and quickly assimilated the styles of his contemporaries. Within a decade he was looking back another century and embracing the beauty and character of the great early Cremonese makers. This mini-renaissance would influence and inspire generations of makers resulting in the Milanese schools of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

This magnificent violin shows the confident hand of a skilled craftsman whose inspiration clearly came from the two Bergonzi brothers, Nicola and Carlo ii, who were similar in age but far more experienced. This instrument is certainly no copy. It has a less angular model than the Bergonzis and a powerful, deeply cut, late del Gesù type scroll that marks Ceruti as a maker with stylistic vision. Tonally, this is an outstanding violin that has served as the solo instrument of a concertmaster here in New York.

A violin byG.B. Ceruti

A violin by
G.B. Ceruti