Antonio Stradivari (c1644-1737) is, with his Italian compatriot Giuseppe Guarneri Del Gesu, the most famed of luthiers. He began crafting stringed instruments in 1680, establishing his workshop in Cremona, Italy, where he stayed until his death aged 93, father to 11 children. He made more than 1,100 instruments – violins, but also cellos, a few violas and a harp – 650 of which survive today. His creations were inscribed with Latin slogans along the lines of Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno [date]. The instruments considered his most expressive were made in the first quarter of the 18th century, but long before then he had established his fame with the "Viotti violin" – first played by Giovanni Battista Viotti at the Tuileries Palace in Paris in 1782, and now valued at £3.5m. Toby Faber, the author of a biography of Stradivari, Five Violins, One Cello and a Genius, believes: "Before Viotti, Stradivari was just one violin-maker among many. After him, everyone wanted to play a Strad." On 16 May 2006, Christie's auctioned a Stradivarius called The Hammer for a record $3.54m (£1.75m).
