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In Focus: A c.1690 violin by Giovanni Maria del Bussetto

2025-11-21T10:05:00

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Aidan Mullerkin examines the elusive maker’s instrument

Despite the vast amount of research that has been carried out into Cremonese violin makers, Giovanni Maria del Bussetto remains a somewhat elusive figure. His birth and death dates are still unknown, his violins are quite a rarity and to my knowledge there are no known surviving violas or cellos by him. When this violin was built, Bussetto’s contemporaries were Girolamo Amati II, Andrea Guarneri, members of the Rugeri family and, of course, Antonio Stradivari. Despite this, Bussetto’s overall design is both individual and distinctive, and suggests that he did not receive his training in Cremona…

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