Tradition has it that he was once imprisoned for some bit of
lawlessness, and was saved from despair by the jailor's daughter who
brought him the tools and materials required for violin-building. What
he esteemed the masterpiece of his lonely cell he presented as a
souvenir to his gentle friend.
The violin about which this legend is woven, dated 1742, was bought by
Ole Bull from the famous Tarisio collection, and is now the property of
his son, Mr. Alexander Bull. It has an unusually rich, sonorous tone and
splendid carrying powers. Similar qualities are attributed to the
Paganini Guarnerius del Gesu, 1743, known as the "Canon" and kept under
glass at the Genoa Museum. Mr. Hart, a violin authority, places highest
in this make the "King Joseph," 1737, long in the private collections of
Mr. Hawley, Hartford, Connecticut, and of Mr. Ralph Granger, Paradise
Valley, California, and recently put on the market by Lyon & Healy, of
Chicago.
An interesting Nicolo Amati pupil was Jacob Steiner (1621-1683), a
Tyrolese, who, although bearing a glittering title, "violin maker to the
Austrian Emperor," was harassed with financial perplexities and died
insane.
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