Lutherie

Stradivari varnish: Scarlet fever

2021-10-12T10:58:00

Robson violin

How did Antonio Stradivari achieve the special deep red varnish colour that makes his later instruments so attractive? Joe Robson believes he has discovered both the composition and method for making it – and cracked one of the most enduring mysteries of the master maker. From the September 2018 issue

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