Antonio Stradivari

Timeline

1. c. 1644–1679Cremona · LombardyBorn in Cremona c. 1644. The earliest surviving instruments bearing his name date to c. 1666–1668; labels once claimed he was a student of Amati, from which scholars infer training in Nicolò Amati's workshop, though apprenticeship documents are missing. Early models and archings were not yet uniform, clearly experimental; he also made guitars, harps and the like.
2. 1680–1698Piazza San Domenico, Cremona · CremonaIn 1680 he purchased a house near Piazza San Domenico, close to the Amati and Guarneri workshops, marking his independent start. In the 1690s he experimented with the 'Long Pattern' bodies—slightly longer, narrower waists, and varnish shifting from yellowish to a deeper orange-brown. Sons Francesco and Omobono successively joined the workshop.
3. 1700–1737Cremona · LombardyFrom c. 1700 he abandoned the Long Pattern for a more balanced standard model, using Alpine spruce and maple; orange-brown varnish and flatter archings became hallmarks of the so-called 'Golden Period' (to c. 1725), producing most of his famous surviving instruments. He is estimated to have made over a thousand instruments in his life, some six hundred surviving. He died in Cremona on 18 December 1737.