Enrico Rocca was born in Turin in 1847. He is said to have started to work for his father, Giuseppe, who was one of the most important violin makers in the 19th century, in his atelier at the age of ten, and was promised to attain the high level of skills.
In 1863, he moved to Genoa with his family. His father, Giuseppe died in 1865, and by the irony of fate, he had to make a living by carpentry and working by the day. 15 years after his father’s death, Enrico restarted violin-making, taking over all of Giuseppe’s tools, earnestly engaging himself in maintaining Rocca’s reputation that people started recognizing. Enrico’s making style did not take after Giuseppe’s, but it is full of sincerity and energy all through his life, obviously showing its originality and characteristics.
This piece of his artwork of 1904 is not an exception. Its scroll and sound holes were elaborately and elegantly made. Its sound is clear, resonant, dense and deep.