Messiah Stradivarius

The Messiah-Salabue Stradivarius of 1716 is a violin made by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona.

The Messiah, sobriquet Le Messie, remained in the Stradivarius workshop until his death in 1737. It was then sold by his son Paolo to Count Cozio di Salabue in 1775, and for a time, the violin bore the name Salabue. The instrument was then purchased by Luigi Tarisio in 1827, and later by French luthier Jean Baptiste Vuillaume of Paris purchased the Messiah along with Tarisio's entire collection upon Tarisio’s death in 1854. Vuillaume's son-in-law Jean-Delphin Alard named it Le Messie because, he said, "[this] violin is like the Messiah of the Jews, because one always waits for him but he never appears." Vuillaume made numerous copies of ‘Le Messie’, the more noteworthy among them being:

2236 of 1860

2374 of 1861;

2455 of 1863

2509 of 1863 which was sold off in auction after J.B.V.’s death

2541 of 1864 and 2556 of the same year, now to be found in the Musee d’Art in Geneve, with carved boxwood pegs and tail piece-the same which Vuillaume fitted to the original instrument.

2594 of 1865

A fine copy without number of the period 1868 Ex- Garcin, which once belonged to Wurlitzer, and Lewis of Chicago

& 2936 of 1873

It was copied by many other makers such as Giuseppe Rocca, George Chanot and most recently by Luca Salvadori.

The Messiah eventually was bequeathed to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England. As a condition in the will of the former owner, the Museum can never allow the violin to be played.

Today, the violin remains unplayed and is almost in its original state as when it was made in 1716. Because of this, it one of the most valuable of all the Stradivari instruments.

The authenticity of the Messiah has been called into question by Stewart Pollens, a conservator at the Metropolitan Museum.

See also

• Stradivarius

References

• Vannes, Rene (1985) [1951]. Dictionnaire Universel del Luthiers (vol.3). Bruxelles: Les Amis de la musique. OCLC 53749830.
• William, Henley (1969). Universal Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers. Brighton; England: Amati. ISBN 0901424005.
• Walter Hamma, Meister Italienischer Geigenbaukunst, Wilhelmshaven 1993, ISBN 3-7959-0537-0

• Millant, Roger (1972). J. B. Vuillaume: Sa Vie et son Oeuvre (in French). London: W.E. Hill. OCLC 865746.

• Tarisio and ‘Le Messie’ : Antoine Vidal, Bowed Instruments (Vol. I)

• W.E. Hill & Sons, Antonio Stradivari: His Life & Work, monograph on the “Salabue” Strad and finally Farga, Violins & Violinists.

• The Hill Collection – David D. Boyden

• Antonio Stradivari – Henley

• 1690 &1716 Tuscan & Le Messie – Hill

• Violin Iconography of Antonio Stradivari - Hebert K. Goodkind

• How Many Strads – E. Doring

• Antonio Stradivari - Charles Beare

• Italian Violin Makers – Walter Henley
• Millant, Roger (1972). J. B. Vuillaume: Sa Vie et son Oeuvre (in French). London: W.E. Hill. OCLC 865746.
• "Violins, Vuillaume - A Great French Violin Maker of the 19th century". The Multimedia Encyclopedia. 1999.
• Les Luthiers Parisiens aux XIX et XX siecles Tom 3 "Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume et sa famille : Nicolas, Nicolas-François et Sébastien" by Sylvette Milliot published by Edition les Amis des la Musique 2006
• Jost Thöne: J.B.Vuillaume, Bildband mit originalgrossen Abbildungen, Bocholt 1998.
• Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume - Violins and Violinists Series of Violin Makers published by William Lewis and Son
• Les Trésors de la Lutherie Française du XIXe siècle", Paris c 1992