Here it
remained as a curiosity until the French took the city in 1809, when it
was carried to Vienna and sold to a wealthy Bohemian collector, after
whose death it came into the possession of Ole Bull.
Gasparo's pupil, Giovanni Paolo Maggini (1581-1631), improved the
principles of violin-building, and gave the world the modern viola and
violoncello. A rich viola-like quality characterizes the Maggini violin.
De Beriot used one in his concerts, and its plaintive tone was thought
well suited to his style. He refused to part with it for 20,000 francs
when Wieniawski, in 1859, wished to buy it. To-day it would command a
far higher price. It is stated on authority that not more than fifty
instruments of its make now exist, although a large number of French
imitations claim recognition.
While Gasparo was founding the so-called Brescian school, Andrea Amati
(1520-1580), a viol and rebec maker of picturesque Cremona, began to
make violins, doubtless to fill the orders of his patrons. He must have
believed the pinnacle of fame reached when King Charles IX.
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