Reference Guide 

Guidantus is a rare but significant Bolognese maker, and this cello must be one of the finest and most important examples of his work. The rarity of his instruments is explained by the fact that his life was mostly spent as the officially appointed repairer of instruments at the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna, a position he inherited from his father, Floriano Guidanti in 1716. As a maker, his work shows a strong Tononi influence, and the makers can be easily confused, although Guidantus’ instruments tend to be more disciplined and possibly more mechanical in execution.

He was born in 1687 in Bologna, the home of the most important university in Europe, and also an established centre of instrument making. The origins of lutherie in the city can be traced from the unique 15th century ‘violeta di S.Caterina de’Vigri’, one of  the oldest surviving stringed instruments known, still preserved in the city, through the great lute-making dynasties of Maler and Frei and the viol-making of Antonio and Girolamo Brensi in the sixteenth century. By the early seventeenth century, the dominant family  of instrument-makers in Bologna were the Tononi, whose work is still clebrated and sought-after. Guidantus, and other equally intriguing Bolognese makers of the time such as Dom Nicolo Amati and Michel Angelo Garani are all too easily overlooked. The academic tradition of Bologna is perhaps conveyed best by the manuscript of Giovanni Antonio Marchi, possibly the earliest and certainly the most complete treatise on violin-making, published in Bologna in 1786. Marchi discourses at length on the philosophy and practicalities of violin making, and credits Guidantus and Stradivarius as being the two makers responsible for fixing the correct proportions for the violin. Marchi may have been showing a certain local bias in this opinion, however.

Guidantus was undoubtedly though a very talented craftsman and technician. The only serious drawback in his work from the modern perspective is the lingering influence of Stainer in the arching models he used. This, it should be said, was quite prevalent amongst all the Bolognese makers of the time. In cellos, however, this form of arching often proves more than capable of generating the most powerful and richest tone. There is more than a touch of Stainer in the forms of Montagnana, and it is manifest in the best English cellos of Wamsley and Forster. It seems that Guidantus was celebrated for his cellos during his own life. The virtuoso player Giambattista Cirri at least was anxious to get his hands on a particular instrument belonging to S.Martini of Bologna, according to correspondance from 1783. Could this have been the cello he sought? 

It carries a clear and original label, printed with the words ‘Joannes Florenus Guidantus Fecit Bononiae Anno 17’ with the two last digits of the date, ‘38’ added by hand, but no other marking. The Tononi and other Bolognese often branded their work on the lower rib beneath the saddle. It is slightly on the large size, at 76.5 cm, but the stop position is ideal, set at 40cm. Oddly, someone in the past has seen fit to recut the notches at a lower point, but these have been filled and corrected. The long and elegant soundholes of this cello, with their small circles and deeply– if somewhat crudely- fluted lower wings  are a definitive feature of Guidantus’ work. The back is made from two matched pieces of quarter sawn maple, with a light, regular figure sloping down towards the centre joint. The ribs are cut from matching wood. For the front, Guidantus was forced to combine six pieces of spruce of varying quality. The wide centre pieces are matched, with a broad grain, conventionally jointed down the centre line of the instrument. On either side of this are two more pieces, matched to each other but of a very fine grain. Finally, broader grained wings bring the full width to the front, although on the bass side the extra piece is only visible right on the lower bout edge. The purfling is made with a beech core, as is the case with most Bolognese work, and the very heavy interior blocks and linings, again a very Bolognese characteristic, are very quickly  split and gouged from poplar wood. There are no pins evident in back at the upper and lower block positions, but there is a large filled hole for a peg or hook, for the attachment of a carrying strap, near the centre of the back in the upper half of the middle bouts. It seems a little surprising to see evidence of this at such a relatively late date.    

The scroll is in superb condition, and encapsulates many of the characteristic qualities of Guidantus; beautifully cut, with a strong circularity to the volutes and a very neatly laid and regular chamfer, and a long pegbox. The fluting is quite shallow, and the shoulders rounded. The varnish is quite thin, and a pale yellow –orange tint. It is in very good state, and is probably a little harder and more durable than the richer classical varnishes of Cremona.   

The cello is in beautiful condition overall, and it is not surprising that it has established a new record auction price for the maker. Something that may or not be of consolation to Guidantus himself, who seems not to have enjoyed great financial success despite the obvious esteem of his peers. He spent the last thirty years of his life in apartments belonging to the friars of San Giacomo, and died in February 1760.

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