Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri

Who was Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri?

Bartolomeo Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri, del Gesù was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri house of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his instruments, and he has been called the finest violin maker of the Amati line. Instruments made by Guarneri are often referred to as Josephs or del Gesùs.

Giuseppe is known as del Gesù because his labels incorporated the nomina sacra, I.H.S. and a Roman Cross. His instruments diverged significantly from family tradition, becoming uniquely his own style. They are considered second in quality only to those of Stradivari but are also claimed by some to be superior. Guarneri's violins often have a darker, more robust, more sonorous tone than Stradivari's. Fewer than 200 of Guarneri's instruments survive. They are all violins, although one cello bearing his father's label, dated 1730, seems to have been completed by Del Gesù.

The most illustrious member of the House of Guarneri, Bartolomeo was the son of Giuseppe Giovanni Battista, thus the grandson of Andrea Guarneri, both noted violin makers themselves. Andrea learned his trade as an apprentice of Nicolò Amati, to whom Stradivari was also apprenticed. Undoubtedly Del Gesù learned the craft of violinmaking in his father's shop.