Word: varnish
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Golden Luster. Then there is the matter of the Great Varnish Mystery. Stradivari used a tacky concoction provided by a local apothecary, the known ingredients of which were oil, gum resin and vegetable coloring. But the precise proportions and the method of application remain unknown. Luthiers have been experimenting with secret formulas for decades, but so far none has been able to match the resiliency, golden luster and lasting power of Stradivari's "pasta." Varnish, contends London Violin Dealer Desmond Hill, is all-important because "it acts as a shock absorber. If the finish is too hard, it makes...
Fiddlesticks, says Konrad Leonhardt, director of the Mittenwald violin school in Germany. "Delightful as the Stradivari varnish might be to look at," he says, "it hardly contributes anything to the sound." Time, say the experts, is far more important. "A man reaches his prime around 40, a violin at about 100," explains Cremona Luthier Pietro Sgarabotto. Thus many luthiers insist that old violins are better only because they are older, that a century from now the fiddles being made by such modern masters as Sacconi, and Carl Becker Sr. of Chicago, will equal the fabled Strad. That, of course, remains...
...around the country are selling an improved version, made in Japan, to the specifications of U.S. Importer and Designer John Reynolds. The first few sessions under a bangasa, which is fashioned of oilpaper and bamboo, are as heady as a day in a glue factory; but the smell of varnish soon fades, and what is left is an exercise in esthetics...
...long ago, gallerygoing was a genteel affair. To and fro across carpeted floors swept the art lovers, sipping sherry. Safely up on the wall were the paintings, framed and titled, with prices on request. But no longer do the panes of varnish give onto idyllic visions of pinky Titian nudes, fluffy Millet sheep, plush Poussin valleys. Nowadays, avant-garde gallerygoing is more like the full 100 yards, with the visitors swivel-hipping through art works that threaten to tackle the visitor's body as well as his sensibilities (see color pages...
...have declared that Rudolf II's huge Hradčany palace was thoroughly bare. So did Czech Art Historian Jaromir Neumann, 40-at first. While studying inventories, Neumann found discrepancies suggesting that some old masters might still be lying around. And he found them-coated with dirt and varnish that has taken 22 restorers 2½ years to scour off. Now these 74 noble remnants, mostly from Rudolf II's collection, are on view again, some of them back in the marble-floored stables of Prague's Hradčany (see opposite page...