rse;_" the result showing that
Stradivari was evidently out of place in such company.

STRADIVARI, Francesco, Cremona, 1720-43.

Franciscus Stradivarius Cremonensis
Filius Antonii faciebat Anno 1742

Son of Antonio Stradivari. Worked with his brother Omobono for several
years. Many of the later works of Antonio Stradivari have been
attributed to his sons. The character of the work is wholly distinct.
I can well understand the error of attributing the instruments of
Francesco Stradivari to Carlo Bergonzi, there being many points in
common, but that so many marked specimens of the works of Antonio
should be deemed apocryphal is beyond my comprehension. The work of
Francesco is altogether less finished, but at the same time it shows
the hand of the master. The design is bold and original. The tone of
Francesco's instruments is invariably rich and telling.

Lancetti states--speaking of Francesco Stradivari--"After the death of
his father, he made several Violins and Tenors, to which he put his
own name. Although he did not succeed in perfectly imitating the works
of his father, the instruments which he made in the years 1740 and
1742, and which remained after his death in the possession of his
brother Paolo, were sold at the same price as those of his father, as
mentioned in the correspondence between Count Cozio and Paolo.
Francesco died at the end of 1742, the year Omobono died, and in which
he made the Violins bought by Count Cozio." The date of death (as
given by Lancetti), though incorrect by some months--he having died
May 11, 1743, aged 72 years--shows the care and trouble taken to
render the information as complete as possible, these dates having
been given without reference to registers, but simply as stated by
Paolo.

STRADIVARI, Omobono, Cremona, 1742.

Omobonus Stradivarius filius Antonii
Cremone fecit, Anno 1740.

Brother of Francesco. Lancetti remarks, "Omobono chiefly restored
instruments and arranged and regulated them." Francesco, it will be
seen, survived his brother about thirteen months, and with him, as
with Girolamo Amati, the son of Niccolo, we reach the end of the
family's long and historical career of Violin-making. Upon the death
of Francesco, the shop in the Piazza San Domenico (now named Piazza
Roma) was closed, after having been occupied by the family of
Stradivari as Violin-makers for upwards of sixty-three years. From
here were sent into cathedral, church, and royal o