improvident artists; into convents from which arose, day and night, the
holy hymns with which its tones were blended; and back again to orgies,
in which it learned to howl and laugh as if a legion of devils were shut
up in it; then, again, to the gentle _dilettante_, who calmed it down
with easy melodies until it answered him softly as in the days of the
old maestros; and so given into our hands, its pores all full of music,
stained like the meerschaum through and through with the concentrated
hue and sweetness of all the harmonies which have kindled and faded on
its strings."

Such, indeed, has been the history of many a noble instrument fashioned
years and years ago, in the days when violin playing did not hold the
same respect and admiration that it commands at the present time.

The evolution of the violin is a matter which can be traced back to the
dark ages, but the fifteenth century may be considered as the period
when the art of making instruments of the viol class took root in Italy.
It cannot be said, however, that the violin, with the modelled back
which gives its distinctive tone, made its appearance until the middle
of the sixteenth century. In France, England, and Germany, there was
very little violin making until the beginning of the following century.
Andrea Amati was born in 1520, and he was the founder of the great
Cremona school of violin makers, of which Nicolo Amati, the grandson of
Andrea, was the most eminent. The art of violin making reached its
zenith in Italy at the time of Antonio Stradivari, who lived at Cremona.
He was born in 1644, and lived until 1737, continuing his labours almost
to the day of his death, for an instrument is in existence made by him
in the year in which he died. It is an interesting fact that the art of
violin making in Italy developed at the time when the painters of Italy
displayed their greatest genius, and when the fine arts were encouraged