Giuseppe Dall’Aglio

Giuseppe Dall’Aglio (1774–1855) ranks among the most important violin makers of the Mantuan school of the early nineteenth century. Born in Boretto near Reggio Emilia, he settled in Mantua by the end of the eighteenth century at the latest. He probably took up violin making around 1810, initially in close association with his brother-in-law Sante Coppi. Dall’Aglio made violins, violas and cellos and stylistically followed the tradition of Pietro Guarneri and Tommaso Balestrieri. Characteristic features are pronounced, angular C-bouts, slender corners, distinctively shaped f-holes and a warm, transparent varnish. Although his work occasionally shows a deliberately rustic execution, his finest instruments are highly regarded for their tonal potential and their individual hand. Today Dall’Aglio is regarded as an important link between the classical Mantuan school of the eighteenth century and the later masters of the nineteenth, above all Stefano Scarampella.