a family of Italian violinmakers.
Andrea Guarneri. Born 1622 or 1626 in Cremona; died there Dec. 7, 1698. The oldest representative of the family, Andrea Guarneri studied with N. Amati, and his first instruments were made in the Amati style. Guarneri later changed the model—for example, the ƒ holes have an irregular shape, the soundboard is flatter, and the sides rather low. Instruments made by Andrea Guarneri have a sweet but not very powerful tone.
Pietro Guarneri. Born Feb. 18, 1655, in Cremona; died Mar. 26, 1720, in Mantua. The eldest son of Andrea Guarneri, Pietro Guarneri worked in Cremona and later in Mantua. He made instruments from a model of his own creation (a wide belly, convex soundboards, rounded ƒ holes, and a rather wide scroll). The tone of his instruments is good but devoid of brilliance.
Giuseppe Guarneri. Born Aug. 21, 1698, in Cremona; died there Oct. 17, 1744. A grandson of Andrea Guarneri; known as Giuseppe del Gesù. With A. Stradivari, Giuseppe del Gesù is the greatest Italian violinmaker. He created his own individual style of violin, designed to be played in a large concert hall. His best violins have a powerful and ample tone and are distinguished by expressiveness and diversity of timbre. The first to appreciate the merits of Giuseppe del Gesù’s violins was N. Paganini.
Other Guarneris. Other great violin masters were another son and grandson of Andrea Guarneri, Giuseppe Guarneri, who was born Nov. 25, 1666, in Cremona and died there in 1739, and Pietro Guarneri, who was born Apr. 14, 1695, in Cremona, and died Apr. 7, 1762, in Venice.