Photo: An astonishingly well-preserved and extremely rare Italian instrument from the start of the 18th century, this fine bass exemplifies the characteristics of the maker’s work: Amatise modeling, with full arching and open sound holes. The bass retains most of its original varnish and bears its original label with the handwritten Latin inscription dating the instrument to 1704. Bologna, anno 1704
FLORIANO GUIDANTE – b. 1643-44 d. 1715
Floriano Guidante spent his entire life working in Bologna. Musically educated, from an early age he was closely associated with the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna, an illustrious institution that later admitted the boy prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Floriano was named curator of the musical instruments of the Accademia at its founding in 1666 and in a history of the institution written in the 18th century he is credited with being a violist and “maker of various bowed musical instruments.” After Floriano’s death, his son, Giovanni (1687-1760), was named to the same position.
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