Dimitri Musafia shares what is likely the first X-ray of a case from the Stradivari workshop

This X-ray from the the Cremona Violin Making School laboratory is of a violin case attributed to the Stradivari workshop. An early ‘holster’ style case from c.1680, it forms part of luthier and bespoke case maker Dimitri Musafia’s research into the few remaining examples of Stradivari cases.

‘The purpose of this analysis is to discover exactly how the Stradivari workshop built these cases, with which tools, and and with which materials,’ Musafia tells The Strad.

‘Already many interesting features are appearing, for example the fact that the curved perimeter around the body of the violin is made of multiple blocks of spruce glued together in such a way to ensure that the grain is always crosswise, a lightweight and effective way to protect the violin from bumps.’

Musafia contributed to an article in the The Strad’s March 2018 issue about the evidence for case making in the Stradivari workshop and the possibility that the great master invented the modern violin case. Read more here.

 

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