The Nature of the Extraordinary Finish of Stradivari’s Instruments

Jean-Philippe Echard (1) , Loïc Bertrand (2, 3) , Alex von Bohlen (4) , Anne-Solenn Le Hô (5) , Céline Paris (6) , Ludovic Bellot-Gurlet (6) , Balthazar Soulier (7) , Agnès Lattuati-Derieux (8) , Sylvie Thao (8) , Laurianne Robinet (2) , Bertrand Lavédrine (8) , Vaiedelich Stéphane (1)

1 Cité de la musique-Philharmonie, Musée de la musique, Equipe Conservation Recherche
2 IPANEMA - Institut photonique d'analyse non-destructive européen des matériaux anciens
3 SSOLEIL - Synchrotron SOLEIL
4 Institute for Analytical Sciences
5 C2RMF - Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France
6 LADIR - Laboratoire de Dynamique Interactions et Réactivité
7 Künste, Institut für Technologie der Malerei, Stuttgart (Germany)
8 CRCC - Centre de Recherche pour la Conservation des Collections

What is Stradivari's “secret”? The composition of the mythical varnish that coats Stradivari's violins has raised controversial assumptions for the past two centuries. By using a complementary array of analytical tools, the chemical microstratigraphy of these varnishes has been established. The results provide information on the materials and techniques that were used by the Master, with a detailed characterization of the varnish.

Domaines: Chimie analytique; Histoire; Héritage culturel et muséologie; Matériaux

Jean-Philippe Echard, Loïc Bertrand, Alex von Bohlen, Anne-Solenn Le Hô, Céline Paris, et al.. The Nature of the Extraordinary Finish of Stradivari’s Instruments. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2010, 49 (1), pp.197 - 201. ⟨10.1002/anie.200905131⟩. ⟨hal-01665937⟩