Celeste Farotti (1864 – 1928) was a

violin maker A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers of ...

in the modern Milanese school. Though his apprenticeship is uncertain, he completed his training in the workshop of

Leandro Bisiach Leandro Bisiach (16 June 1864 – 1 December 1945) was an Italian violin maker, who was born in Casale Monferrato and died in 1945 at Venegono Superiore near Varese. Biography Trained as a violinist, he made his first violin on his own and rece ...

, finally opening his own shop in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

around 1900. He was a connoisseur of Italian violin making, and a gifted copyist.* After an accident during a mountain trip, Celeste stopped working and his nephew, Celestino Farotto (born 1905), ran the shop until his death. An air of mystery surrounds some of his work, and there are many legends about him, as there are about other makers who made "copies" of instruments that they made look old. Like

Gaetano Sgarabotto Gaetano (anglicized ''Cajetan'') is an Italian masculine given name. It is also used as a surname. It is derived from the Latin ''Caietanus'', meaning "from ''Caieta''" (the modern Gaeta). The given name has been in use in Italy since medieval p ...

or Vincenzo Sannino, he frequently enjoyed reproducing the wear and tear of antique instruments.

Bibliography

References

*La Liuteria Italiana / Italian Violin Making in the 1800s and 1900s - Umberto Azzolina *I Maestri Del Novicento - Carlo Vettori *La Liuteria Lombarda del '900 - Roberto Codazzi, Cinzia Manfredini 2002 *Dictionary of 20th Century Italian Violin Makers -

Marlin Brinser Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes about 10 species. A marlin has an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long, rigid dorsal fin which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to der ...

1978 * * *

External links

A beautiful example of a Celeste Farotti Cello, 1903
1864 births 1928 deaths Italian luthiers Musicians from Milan 19th-century Italian musicians {{Italy-music-bio-stub