Pietro Guarneri is regarded as the last great master of the Guarneri family.

He was born in Cremona on April 14, 1695, the son of the distinguished maker Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri (filius Andreae).

To distinguish him from his uncle of the same name, Pietro Guarneri of Mantua (Pietro da Mantova), he is generally known as
Pietro da Venezia (Pietro of Venice).

This violin, made circa 1750, represents an important example from Pietro Guarneri’s late mature period.

After leaving Cremona in the late 1710s and settling in Venice, he built upon the solid structural foundations of the Cremonese school while actively embracing the city’s freer aesthetic sensibility and practical approach, ultimately bringing his distinctive style to full maturity.

Around 1750 marks a period in which stability and individuality are realized at a particularly high level.

The outline is refined and well balanced, conveying classical Cremonese principles, while the edgework and purfling retain the strength and character of hand craftsmanship, avoiding excessive uniformity.

Here, a distinctly Venetian sensibility—prioritizing vitality and expressive presence—is clearly evident.

The varnish consists of a warm, yellow-toned ground overlaid with a deep red-brown varnish.

Its transparency and depth, developed through age, reveal a richly expressive surface that changes beautifully with the light.

Tonally, the instrument offers a clear, focused core combined with substantial depth, projecting a powerful sound enriched with abundant overtones—hallmarks of Pietro Guarneri’s fully mature work.

In recent years, violins by Pietro Guarneri have also been known to be favored by the renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman.

This violin stands as an outstanding late-period masterpiece, in which the architectural beauty of Cremona and the coloristic richness and practicality of Venice are brought together at the highest level.