Messiah Stradivarius
The Messiah - Salabue Stradivarius of 1716 is a violin made by the Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona. It is considered to be the only Stradivarius in existence in as "new" state. The neck has been lengthened and at minimum the bass bar, bridge, tailpiece, and pegs have been replaced. It is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England.
The violin, known as the Messiah, remained in Stradivari's workshop until his death in 1737. It was then sold by his son Paolo to Count Cozio di Salabue in 1775, and for a time, the violin bore the name Salabue. The instrument was then purchased by Luigi Tarisio in 1827. Upon Tarisio’s death in 1854, the French luthier Jean Baptiste Vuillaume of Paris purchased The Messiah along with Tarisio's entire collection. "One day Tarisio was discoursing with Vuillaume on the merits of this unknown and marvelous instrument, when the violinist Jean-Delphin Alard, Vuillaume's son-in-law, exclaimed: 'Really, Mister Tarisio, your violin is like the Messiah of the Jews: one always expects him but he never appears'. Thus the violin was titled with the name by which it is still known."
The Messiah was bequeathed by the family of W. E. Hill to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for preservation as "a yardstick for future violin makers to learn from".
Condition
The violin is in like-new condition, as it was seldom played. Although modifications were made, according to the Ashmolean Museum, "The varnish, however, is almost unworn, the carving is as crisp as the day it was made and the painted edge-work on the scroll survives intact."List of modifications
- Neck was lengthened
- Bass bar was replaced
- Bridge replaced
- Tailpiece replaced
- Pegs replaced
- Sound post likely replaced
- Strings likely replaced