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WAS
GASPAR DUIFFOPRUGCAR
REALLY THE
FIRST VIOLIN-MAKER?
1001IITT
Iniversi
Michigan
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TILLIELD PURCHAIS WA
+

350
Gaſpar Duffoprugcar.
Viua fui in laufum dura caya locum
Diary ruxi coens mot un dolce camp
WP
GASPAR DUIFFOPRUGCAR.
STELLFELD
Masic
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424
Was Gaspar Duiffoprugcar really the first
Violin-maker?*)
The picture herewith presented to the reader is a reproduction of
an old engraving on copper, which engraving, first published in 1562,
is a copy of a portrait by Pierre Woeiriot. The original painting, as
well as the engraved copy, bears the following Latin inscription:
“Viva fui in sylvis, sum dura occisa securi,”
“Dum vixi, tacui, mortua dulce cano,”
which may be freely rendered thus:
“I lived in the woods, until I was slain by the merciless axe."
“Whilst living, I was silent, now that I am dead, I sing sweetly."
This old engraving is without doubt the copy of a painting for
which Duiffoprugcar sat about 1528, when he was 48 years of age. At
any rate the portrait displays on the part of the artist great care in the
representation of the figure, and special knowledge in the depiction
of the instruments which surround it. This is not an occasion where
the artist has given loose rein to fancy, as so many painters are apt
to do in portraying the forms and the stringing of musical instruments.
On the contrary, it seems that here the painter's object was to
accurately represent the master surrounded by instruments which were
in use in the great maker's own day, and which were the product
*) The following is a translation with some slight alterations and additions of an
article which appeared in the Leipsic “Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau ” of the 21st
of May, 1891. (Translation by C. N. V., New York.)
4.
of his own hands. We see on the picture as chief symbol various
types of the Lute, the favorite stringed instrument of that period. In
his left hand Duiffoprugcar holds an unfinished Lute, under which
there was a so-called “Chitarra battente,” an instrument with high
arched back, and much in use in Italy at that time. The wire strings
of this “Chitarra” were set in vibration by means of a plectrum,
wherefore the name “battente” (from "battere,” Italian, “to strike”)
in order that the instrument might be distinguished from the common
Guitar. The centre of the picture is occupied by a small Harp, a
so-called Minstrel-Harp. On the left we see a Viola da Gamba, and
on the other side one of the Viols used at that period, having a very
primitive form, and a finger-board so short, that it was hardly possible
to play in the third position. Partly hidden behind the Viola da Gamba
is another instrument of the Viol type with high sides, and undoubtedly
having a flat back. There is not in the picture, however, the least
trace of a Violin proper with arched back, and in its present form.
Had Duiffoprugcar really been the one, as many writers have
asserted, who took the lead and made the first Violins, a prominent
place would surely have been assigned to the Violin in the engraving.
The selection and grouping of the instruments must have certainly
been made with the knowledge and assistance of Duiffoprugcar, and
if he had, as the story goes, made for King Francis I., Violins, as well
as Basses and Viols, it would have naturally been a matter of import-
ance for him to have had the fact recorded on his picture.
After investigation of the reasons why Duiffoprugcar is commonly
considered the original inventor of the modern Violin, we come to
this conclusion, that it is a curious fact that savants and writers on
musical subjects, who were absolutely not connoisseurs, have classified
as real Violins certain Viols by Duiffoprugcar which had been reduced
in size, and of whose pretended existence they had no knowledge
except from hearsay. All earnest searchers like Rühlmann*), Hart ),
*) Julius Rühlmann, “Geschichte der Bogeninstrumente,” Braunschweig, 1882,
page 200—201.
t) George Hart, “The violin, its famous makers and their imitators,” London,
1880 (Popular Edition), page 59.

5
Charles Reade*), Ed. Heron-Allen t), and others have objected to
this false classification, which unfortunately has been renewed of late
by an amateur, F. Niederheitmann of Aix-la-Chapelle, in his work
“Cremona, eine Charakteristik der italienischen Geigenbauer und ihrer
Instrumente.” While travelling, this gentleman found, in his own
”
opinion, a genuine Violin by Duiffoprugcar, of which he gives a
lithographic illustration in his work. The counterfeit instrument, for
every connoisseur will recognize it as such, was not made by unskillful
hands, and may perhaps have come from the workshop of the cele-
brated Parisian Violin-maker, J. B. Vuillaume, who possessed extra-
ordinary skill in such imitations, and it is not improbable that the
other Duiffoprugcar Violins, of which, strangely enough, there are said
to be two more in Aix-la-Chapelle, besides the one already mentioned,
were likewise made by Vuillaume. The esteemed English writer, Ed.
Heron-Allen, in his work previously referred to, makes the following
remarks on this subject: “The great J. B. Vuillaume made a quantity
of Violins at the beginning of this century, which were carved and
inlaid after the manner of Duiffoprugcar, and many an amateur has
fondly imagined himself the possessor of a genuine antique, instead
of a great maker's well executed (not to put too fine a point on it)
'forgery.” If such is the case, and no doubt it is, for the above
'
statement is made by a very reliable writer, it would appear very
probable that these so-called Duiffoprugcar Violins are only pro-
ductions of the great French copyist. The writer of this paper, who
is well acquainted with the Aix-la-Chapelle instruments referred to in
Niederheitmann's work, and has handled them numerous times, is
surprised that people can be found to say that those intruments were
made at the beginning of the sixteenth century. :) They are in an
*) Vide his articles in the London Pall Mall Gazette of August, 1872.
+) Ed. Heron-Allen, “Violin-making as it was and is,” London, 1885, pages
51-52.
+) It seems that Hart saw one of these Violins, as he makes the following
remarks in “The Violin, its famous makers and their imitators,” large edition, 1884,
page 105: “The name of Duiffoprugcar has been made familiar to us not so much on
account of his merits as a Viol-maker, but almost wholly on account of his having been
represented as the first maker of the Violin, tuned in fifths, and the representation
having been supported by the production of three Violins signed and dated 1511,
6
impossible state of preservation, the wood being still healthy and
sound, which is never the case in instruments of such an age; besides,
the whole model looks so far in advance of its time, that it would
seem as if such Italian artists as Gaspar da Salo and Maggini, the
successors of Duiffoprugcar, had returned to a more primitive form
of the instrument. Whoever knows even a little about old instruments,
and has ever had in his hand a Lute made in the sixteenth century,
will agree with me when I say that such an instrument is nothing else
but a ruin, and hardly strong enough to resist the pressure of strings.
Now, let us compare these old Lutes with the Violins referred to in
Niederheitmann's work, with their sound and strong arching, their
beautiful purfling and splendid varnish, and finally, their beautiful
healthy tone! What conclusion do we reach ? Is it possible to
believe that the so-called Duiffoprugcar Violins are genuine? It
would be interesting to know how these Violins have come to Aix-la-
Chapelle, while no museum in the world can show a Violin by
Duiffoprugcar, the authenticity of which has been established.
The catalogue of the Museum of the Paris Conservatory mentions
under No. 1, a Violin by Duiffoprugcar, but the author of the cata-
logue, the late Gustave Chouquet, makes the following remarks: “Ce
violon marqueté porte le monogramme de Gaspard Duiffoprugcar,
parce qu'il a été fait avec un instrument authentique de ce luthier
célèbre. On a d'abord transformé une viole de ce maître en petit
violon; puis Georges Chanot (Mirecourt, 26 mars 1801; Courcelles,
10 janvier 1883) a fort habilement agrandi ce petit violon et lui a
donné sa forme actuelle. Il provient de la collection Maulaz et a
a
longtemps appartenu au célèbre violoniste J. B. Cartier (1765-1841),
auteur de “L'Art du Violon” (vide page 5 “Le Musée du Conserva-
toire National de Musique,” Paris, 1884). Consequently, in this
instance also, a Violin by Duiffoprugcar is out of the question; we
merely have a Viol before us which has been altered. Neither is the
1517, 1519. I saw, about the year 1877, one of these, and was informed by the
owner that the others were almost identical. The instrument bore distinct evidence
of its being a modern French imitation, or rather, an ingenious creation evolved from
a myth, which in all probability had its origin in France."


7
instrument of 1512 mentioned in the large catalogue of the South
Kensington Museum (page 362) a genuine Duiffoprugcar Violin, and
Engel, the author of the catalogue, at once expresses his doubt as to
its genuineness.*) As far as we know, the instrument quite resembles
the Aix-la-Chapelle counterfeits, and may probably owe its existence
to J. B. Vuillaume.
What would Niederheitmann have said, had he lived to see it, that
not even a bidder was to be found when his beloved “Duiffoprugcar
Violin” was put up at auction during the Lower Rhenish musical
festival. As said before, not even a bid was made for the Violin, and
since that time it has completely disappeared, not even his descendants
appearing to know what has become of it.
Without injuring the fame of Duiffoprugcar as an excellent Lute
and Viol-maker, it can be said with good reason that he has, in the
history of Violin-making, been given a position to which, as far as the
evidence goes, he is not at all entitled.
*) Carl Engel, “A descriptive Catalogue of the Musical Instruments in the
South Kensington Museum.” London, 1874.

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