Editing Violin (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of the violin}}
[[File:Gaudenzio Ferrari 002.jpg|thumb|right|The cupola of Madonna dei Miracoli in [[Saronno]], [[Italy]], with angels playing violin, viola, and cello, dates from 1535 and is one of the earliest depictions of the violin family.]]

The earliest stringed instruments were mostly plucked (for example, the Greek [[lyre]]). Two-stringed, bowed instruments, played upright and strung and [[Bow (music)|bowed]] with horsehair, may have originated in the nomadic [[Equestrianism|equestrian]] cultures of Central Asia, in forms closely resembling the modern-day [[Mongolia]]n [[Morin huur]] and the [[Kazakhstan|Kazakh]] [[Kobyz]]. Similar and variant types were probably disseminated along east–west trading routes from Asia into the Middle East,<ref>''The Silk Road: Connecting Cultures, Creating Trust'', Silk Road Story 2: Bowed Instruments, Smithsonian Center for Folk life and Cultural Heritage [http://www.silkroadproject.org/smithsonian/nomads/story.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013123420/http://www.silkroadproject.org/smithsonian/nomads/story.html|date=2008-10-13}} (accessed 2008-09-26)</ref>{{Failed verification|date=February 2025}}<ref>
{{Cite book
 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=e6GcPB5v0yIC
 |title=The NPR Classical Music Companion: Terms and Concepts from A to Z
 |last=Hoffman
 |first=Miles
 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]]
 |year = 1997|isbn=978-0618619450
 }}</ref> and the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref name=Grillet29>{{harvnb|Grillet|1901|p=29}}</ref><ref>Margaret J. Kartomi: On Concepts and Classifications of Musical Instruments. Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology, University of Chicago Press, 1990</ref>

[[Rebec]], [[fiddle]] and [[lira da braccio]] are generally considered the ancestors of the violin,<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-the-cello/8C1492C022422732B6859906BFDF2A5C The Cambridge Companion to the Cello]</ref> Several sources suggest alternative possibilities for the violin's origins, such as northern or western Europe.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yNc5AAAAIAAJ|title=The Precursors of the Violin Family: Records, Researches & Studies|first=Kathleen|last=Schlesinger|date=May 29, 1914|page=221|publisher=W. Reeves|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/historyofviolin00sand|title=The history of the violin, and other instruments played on with the bow from the remotest times to the present. Also, an account of the principal makers, English and foreign, with numerous illustrations. By William Sandys and Simon Andrew Forster|first1=William|last1=Sandys|first2=Simon Andrew|last2=Forster|date=May 29, 1864|publisher=London W. Reeves|via=Internet Archive|page=28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRwvAQAAIAAJ|title=Catechism of musical history|first=Hugo|last=Riemann|date=May 29, 1892|publisher=Augener & Company, printed in Germany|via=Google Books| page=27}}</ref> The first makers of violins probably borrowed from various developments of the Byzantine lyra. These included the [[vielle]] (also known as the ''fidel'' or ''viuola'') and the ''[[lira da braccio]]''.<ref name="Grillet29"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Arkenberg|first=Rebecca |title=Renaissance Violins |date=October 2002 |publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/renv/hd_renv.htm |access-date=2006-09-22}}</ref>
The violin in its present form emerged in early 16th-century [[northern Italy]]. The earliest pictures of violins, albeit with three strings, are seen in northern Italy around 1530, at around the same time as the words "violino" and "vyollon" are seen in Italian and French documents. One of the earliest explicit descriptions of the instrument, including its tuning, is from the ''Epitome musical'' by [[Jambe de Fer]], published in [[Lyon]] in 1556.<ref>
{{Cite web
 |url=http://www.violinonline.com/historicalbackgroundoftheviolin.htm
 |title=Historical Background of the Violin
 |publisher=ViolinOnline.com
 |first=Robin Kay|last=Deverich|year=2006|access-date=2006-09-22
}}</ref> By this time, the violin had already begun to spread throughout [[Europe]].

The violin proved very popular, both among street musicians and the nobility; the French king [[Charles IX of France|Charles IX]] ordered Andrea Amati to construct 24 violins for him in 1560.<ref>{{Cite web
 |url=http://www.bartruff.com/history.php
 |title=The History of the Violin
 |first=William|last=Bartruff|access-date=2006-09-22
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070208112530/http://www.bartruff.com/history.php <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-02-08}}</ref> One of these "noble" instruments, the ''Charles IX'', is the oldest surviving violin. The finest Renaissance carved and decorated violin in the world is the [[Gasparo da Salò]] ({{circa}}1574) owned by [[Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria]] and later, from 1841, by the Norwegian virtuoso [[Ole Bull]], who used it for forty years and thousands of concerts, for its very powerful and beautiful tone, similar to that of a Guarneri.<ref>It is now in the Vestlandske Kunstindustrimuseum in [[Bergen]], Norway.</ref> [[Messiah Stradivarius|"The Messiah"]] or ''"Le Messie"'' (also known as the "Salabue") made by [[Antonio Stradivari]] in 1716 remains pristine. It is now located in the [[Ashmolean Museum]] of [[Oxford]].<ref>{{Cite web
 |url=http://www.cozio.com/Instrument.aspx?id=111
 |title=Violin by Antonio Stradivari, 1716 (Messiah; la Messie, Salabue)
 |publisher=Cozio.com
 |access-date=2008-09-26
 |archive-date=2008-10-08
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008063952/http://www.cozio.com/Instrument.aspx?id=111
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref>

The most famous [[:Category:Violin makers|violin makers]] ([[luthiers]]) between the 16th century and the 18th century include:
[[File:Stainer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|1658 [[Baroque violin]] by Jacob Stainer]]
* The school of [[Brescia]], beginning in the late 14th century with liras, violettas, violas and active in the field of the violin in the first half of the 16th century
** The [[Giovan Giacomo Dalla Corna|Dalla Corna]] family, active 1510–1560 in Brescia and [[Venice]]
** The [[Zanetto Micheli|Micheli]] family, active 1530–1615 in Brescia
** The [[Inverardi]] family active 1550–1580 in Brescia
** The [[Gasparo da Salò]] family, active 1530–1615 in Brescia and [[Salò]]
** [[Giovanni Paolo Maggini]], student of Gasparo da Salò, active 1600–1630 in Brescia
** The [[Giovanni Battista Rogeri|Rogeri]] family, active 1661–1721 in Brescia
* The school of [[Cremona]], beginning in the second half of the 16th century with violas and violone and in the field of violin in the second half of the 16th century
** The [[Amati]] family, active 1550–1740 in Cremona
** The [[Guarneri]] family, active 1626–1744 in Cremona and Venice
** The [[Stradivari]] family, active 1644–1737 in Cremona<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Music|last=Kennedy|first=Michael|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2017}}</ref>
** The [[Francesco Rugeri|Rugeri]] family, active 1650–1740 in Cremona
** [[Carlo Bergonzi (luthier)]] (1683-1747) in Cremona
* The school of [[Venice]], with the presence of several makers of bowed instruments from the early 16th century out of more than 140 makers of string instruments registered between 1490 and 1630.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pio Stefano|title=Viol and Lute Makers of Venice 1490 -1630|year=2012|publisher=Venice Research|location=Venice, Italy|isbn=9788890725203|pages=441|url=http://www.veniceresearch.com}}</ref>
** The [[Linarolo family]], active 1505–1640 in Venice
** [[Matteo Goffriller]], known for his celli, active 1685–1742 in Venice
** [[Pietro Guarneri]], son of [[Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri]] and from Cremona, active 1717–1762 in Venice
** [[Domenico Montagnana]], active circa 1700–1750 in Venice
** [[Sanctus Seraphin|Santo Serafin]], active before 1741 until 1776 in Venice
Significant changes occurred in the construction of the violin in the 18th century, particularly a longer neck which is angled more toward the back of the instrument than in earlier examples, heavier strings, and a heavier bass bar. The majority of old instruments have undergone these modifications, and hence are in a significantly different state than when they left the hands of their makers, doubtless with differences in sound and response.<ref>
{{Cite web
 |title=Violin changes by 1800
 |url=http://rperras.tripod.com/id42.htm
 |first=Richard
 |last=Perras
 |access-date=2006-10-29
}}</ref> But it is in their present (modified) condition that these instruments have set the standard for perfection in violin craftsmanship and sound, and violin makers all over the world try to come as close to this ideal as possible.

To this day, instruments from the so-called Golden Age of [[violin making]], especially those made by Stradivari, Guarneri del Gesù, and Montagnana, are the most sought-after instruments by both collectors and performers. The current record amount paid for a Stradivari violin is [[pound sterling|£]]9.8&nbsp;million ([[US$]]15.9&nbsp;million at that time), when the instrument known as the [[Lady Blunt Stradivarius|Lady Blunt]] was sold by [[Tarisio Auctions]] in an online auction on June 20, 2011.<ref>{{cite news | title=Stradivarius violin sold for £9.8m at charity auction | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13852872 | work=BBC News | date=2011-06-21 | access-date=2011-06-21}}</ref>