, to have
arrived at a different conclusion, as regards the form of their
instrument, from that shaped by Gasparo da Salo. Their works show an
evident preference for the high model, and thus undid much that
Gasparo had accomplished. It is clear that Gasparo only arrived at his
conclusions after painstaking labour, for he commenced with the high
form, and gradually, as experience taught, lowered it. It is, further,
remarkable that the latter members of the Amati family pursued the
same course as Andrea Amati (though in a less degree), after which
they awoke, as it were, to the reasonableness of the example set by
Gasparo, and gave us those instruments so highly thought of by the
connoisseur, the form of which has much in common with that adopted by
Niccolo Amati and perfected by Antonio Stradivari.

It has been before remarked that Gasparo da Salo did not arrive at his
conclusions without mature consideration. In fact, a long and
deliberate process of experiment may be traced in his instruments. We
find that at times his Violins and Violas were treated differently
from the Accordos and Violonos. The Violins are found to be high in
model, while the above-named instruments, evidently of the same date,
are flat. He would seem to have been desirous of testing the powers of
either model, and it is possible that he fostered the idea of varying
the construction of each of the four species in the family of stringed
instruments according to the part which should be allotted to it. To
treat each part of the stringed quartette in a different way is
certainly an error, for they are to be looked upon as gradations of
one and the same instrument; nevertheless, the attempt of Gasparo,
although mistaken, offers but another instance of his prolific
ingenuity and unwearied diligence. An praise is due to the great
Brescian maker for having opened up, as a pioneer, so wide a field of
research. The Cremonese artists followed up his clue, and brought the
Violin to the highest state of excellence.

[Illustration: _Plate X_. DOMENICO MONTAGNANA. (GEO. GUDGEON, ESQ.)]

The chief characteristics of the works of Gasparo da Salo are the
sound-holes, shortened centre-bouts, scroll, and peculiar choice of
material. The length of the sound-hole at first strikes one as
somewhat crude, but as the eye becomes more acquainted with the
general form of the instrument, it is seen to be in perfect harmony
with the primitive outline. With this sound-hole co