Raffaele Fiorini

Life and Career

Raffaele Fiorini was born in 1828 in the hills just south of Bologna, the son of Petronio Fiorini and Orsola Dozza. At a young age, he moved with his parents from Musiano, just south of Bologna, to the hamlet of Bazzano, which was 25 kilometers away. There, his father began working as a miller at a sawmill. Raffaele helped him with this work and later took over the mill from him. In addition to his work as a miller, Raffaele painted and also enjoyed playing the violin frequently. In Bologna, around 1848, he met Giovanni and Ignazio Tadolini (1789–1872 and 1797–1873, respectively), two musicians who had studied violin making in Paris. His biographer, De Piccolellis, mentioned that Raffaele apprenticed with them, but this cannot be established with certainty. What is certain is that between 1848 and 1867 he maintained close contact with various Bolognese luthiers. He built his first violins in Bazzano around 1858. Encouraged by Carlo Verardi, a prominent young violinist, he moved to Bologna to start a workshop there.

The timing was perfect; Bologna was just beginning to recover from French rule. Although the city once again became part of the Papal States, it still managed to revive important secular institutions. The University—the oldest in Europe—and the conservatory once again attracted young scholars and artists, giving rise to a new financial and cultural elite. They funded concerts but also set the tone for musical tastes. In response to French influence, they fostered a new Italian musical renaissance. Two movements emerged: that of the grand Italian operas, which were generally preferred by the general public, and a second, that of chamber music, in which string instruments were favored by the elite. In both movements, however, the old French revolutionary view still prevailed that culture should be accessible to all segments of the population and therefore free. The number of concerts and operas increased rapidly, benefiting musicians and violin makers alike.

Raffaele Fiorini met many young violinists who were drawn to a new, successful method used to teach string players at the Bologna Conservatory. That influx continued when, in 1860, cellist Francesco Serato (1848–1919), a professor at the Music Academy, launched a cello program that attracted many young cellists. The academy became one of the most important centers for string players in Italy. As the demand for string instruments grew, so did the need for violin makers in the city. Fiorini quickly became the most prominent among them. Prominent financiers readily associated themselves with the city’s cultural elite, which also elevated violin makers to high esteem. The fact that Raffaele Fiorini was able to open his workshop in the Pepoli family’s palace is a clear indication of the high regard in which he was held.

Descriptions suggest that Palazzo Pepoli Vecchio was a center of refined artistry. Given the exceptional artistic quality of Fiorini’s work, his studio fit right in there. He established it around 1867, and the studio remained in the Palazzo long after his death. He soon earned “well-deserved respect for his honesty and good character” and had found several talented assistants whom he had carefully selected. He developed an efficient working method and was held in high regard throughout Bologna.

Influenced by other violin makers who visited his workshop or worked there temporarily, he significantly refined his techniques. In 1861, his only son, Giuseppe, was born in Bazzano. At the age of fifteen, Giuseppe began as an apprentice in his father’s workshop and became one of his regular employees. Many apprentices, including Giuseppe, later became great luthiers. In 1877, Giuseppe Fiorini left, and Cesare Candi (1869–1947) took his place.

In 1894, Fiorini took Augusto Pollastri (1886–1960) under his wing—a nine-year-old boy whose father had died that year and who was responsible for caring for his brother Gaetano, three years his junior. Raffaele Fiorini had Augusto run errands for him and later taught him the craft of violin making. Augusto proved to be very talented, became Fiorini’s assistant, and was groomed to be his successor. Both Augusto Pollastri and his brother Gaetano would later become great violin makers.

In 1881, Raffaele participated for the first time in a major international exhibition in Milan; a year later, he took part in one in Arezzo, where he won a silver medal. Two years later, he also won silver at the exhibition in Turin. In the years that followed, he participated in many exhibitions throughout Europe.

His methods were first adopted by a few violin makers in the city, and later by many others throughout the Emilia-Romagna region. Fiorini is therefore considered the founder of the Romagnese violin-making tradition.

When Raffaele Fiorini’s health began to decline around 1885, Augusto Pollastri gradually took over key responsibilities from him. However, Augusto proved to have a greater talent for violin making than for managing the workshop. After Fiorini’s death in 1898, the workshop was continued by his longest-serving employee, Armando Monterumici (1875–1936). Augusto started his own business that same year. There is no trace of his workshop left in the Palazzo Pepoli; however, several of his instruments are on display in Bologna.

Work and Influence

Raffaele Fiorini was the first to revive Bolognese violin making after it had virtually come to a standstill by the mid-19th century. He returned to the models of the Cremonese masters, but employed a technique that the Tadolini family and a few French luthiers had brought from Paris to Italy a few years earlier.

The instruments that Raffaele Fiorini himself left behind differ quite a bit from one another. It is clear that he experimented extensively and did not arrive at a definitive form until around 1880. These later instruments are significant; they bear only a vague resemblance to the fusion of Guarneri and Amati styles and exhibit more personal characteristics.

At the point where the edge inlay began, he deepened the curve, giving his instruments a distinctive appearance. The inlay itself was narrow and delicate. He used a golden-yellow lacquer as a base, over which he applied a deep reddish-brown finish. Very few of Raffaele Fiorini’s instruments survive today; his cellos, in particular, are highly sought after. They are slightly smaller than was customary at the time and more closely resemble today’s standard size.

Raffaele Fiorini had a profound influence on violin-making in the Emilia-Romagna region; his workshop was frequently visited by local violin makers, and he supported them in their work. Fiorini’s “Bolognese” style can be seen in the work of many later violin makers in Bologna. Raffaele Fiorini’s most famous students were Augusto Pollastri, Oreste Candi, his son Giuseppe Fiorini, and Armando Monterumici. Through them, Fiorini’s influence spread throughout northern Italy.

The violin by Raffaele Fiorini in the collection of the Musical Instrument Fund dates from 1882, the same year he won a silver medal at the exhibition in Arazzo.

Sources

Strocchini, G., 2015, Liutai Romagnoli, Cremona.

Piccolellis de, G., 2007, Fiorini, Ancient and Modern Lute Makers, Bologna.

Maragi, M., 2000, Five Hundred Years of Monte di Bologna, Bologna.

Panorama of Modern Bolognese Violin Making: Influences and Relationships, 2002, The Scientific Committee "Il Suono di Bologna”, Bologna.

Versari A., 2002, Modern Violin Making in the Emilia-Romagna Region. Bologna.

Blot E., 2001, 1860-1960 - A century of Italian Violin Making - Emilia e Romagna, Cremona.

Brinser M., 1978 Dictionary of 20th Century Italian Violin Makers, Bologna - A living tradition of Violin Making, zp.

Brinser M., 1978 Dictionary of 20th Century Italian Violin Makers, Bologna - A living tradition of Violin Making, zp.