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Compare Famous Stradivari Instruments
Compare the most famous surviving Stradivari instruments side by side — type, year, period, reported value or sale, and where each is today. Figures are market history, not investment or appraisal advice. How we fact-check →
Compare famous Stradivari instruments →| Instrument | Type | Year | Period | Value / sale | Where it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Sunrise | Violin | 1677 | Early period | An early Stradivari of fine preservation | Privately held |
| The Hellier | Violin | 1679 | Early period | A rare decorated Stradivari of high importance | Privately held |
| The Molitor | Violin | 1697 | Early / pre-golden period | Sold at auction in 2010 for a then-record price for any instrument | Privately held by a soloist |
| The Betts | Violin | 1704 | Golden period | Not for sale (public collection) | Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. |
| The Hammer | Violin | 1707 | Golden period | ≈ US$3.54M (2006 auction) | Private |
| The Viotti | Violin | 1709 | Golden period | A prized golden-period violin held in a public institution | Royal Academy of Music, London |
| The Gibson ex-Huberman | Violin | 1713 | Golden period | A high-value golden-period violin with a famous theft history | Played by violinist Joshua Bell |
| The Soil | Violin | 1714 | Golden period | Reported private sale (not public) | Played by Itzhak Perlman |
| The Dolphin | Violin | 1714 | Golden period | Among the most valued Stradivari (held by a foundation) | Nippon Music Foundation (loaned to soloists) |
| The Titian | Violin | 1715 | Golden period | A celebrated golden-period violin played by leading soloists | Privately held |
| The Lipiński | Violin | 1715 | Golden period | A golden-period violin known for a 2014 armed theft and recovery | Privately held; long on loan in Milwaukee |
| The Messiah | Violin | 1716 | Golden period | Not for sale (museum-held) | Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK |
| The Lady Blunt | Violin | 1721 | Golden period | ≈ US$15.9M (2011 auction record) | Private (sold via Tarisio, 2011) |
| The Kreutzer | Violin | 1727 | Late golden period | A documented Stradivari sold at major auction | Privately held |
| The Khevenhüller | Violin | 1733 | Late period | A large-pattern Stradivari of high reputation | Privately held; long played by Yehudi Menuhin |
| The Vieuxtemps Guarneri | Violin | 1741 | Guarneri del Gesù late period | Reported among the most expensive violins ever sold | On lifetime loan to a soloist |
| The Lord Wilton | Violin | 1742 | Guarneri del Gesù late period | Among the most celebrated del Gesù violins; sold privately for a high sum | Privately held; long associated with virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin |
| Gasparo da Salò | Luthier (maker) | 1542-1609 | 16th-century Brescia | His rare early instruments are of great historical value | Worked in Brescia, Italy |
| Nicolò Amati | Luthier (maker) | 1596-1684 | Mid-17th-century Cremona | His instruments are esteemed and command high prices | Worked in Cremona, Italy |
| Carlo Bergonzi | Luthier (maker) | 1683-1747 | Early 18th-century Cremona | Among the most valued Cremonese makers after Stradivari and del Gesù | Worked in Cremona, Italy |
| Pietro Guarneri | Luthier (maker) | 1695-1762 | 18th-century Venice | Rare instruments, prized for refined craftsmanship | Born in Cremona; worked mainly in Venice, Italy |
| Guarneri 'del Gesù' | Luthier (maker) | 1698-1744 | Early 18th-century Cremona | His violins rival and sometimes exceed Stradivari's in price | Worked in Cremona, Italy |
| Cremonese violin making | Tradition (place & craft) | 16th-18th centuries | Golden age of the Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri workshops | The instruments of this school are the most prized of all | Cremona, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy |
| The Servais | Cello | 1701 | Early golden period | A landmark cello held in a national collection | Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. |
| The Duport | Cello | 1711 | Golden period | One of the most valuable cellos in existence | Nippon Music Foundation |
| G. B. Guadagnini | Luthier (maker) | 1711-1786 | 18th-century Italy (several cities) | Widely regarded as the finest maker after Stradivari and del Gesù | Worked in Piacenza, Milan, Parma, and Turin |
| The Davidov | Cello | 1712 | Golden period | Not publicly sold | Played by Jacqueline du Pré, later Yo-Yo Ma |
| The Piatti | Cello | 1720 | Golden period | A celebrated golden-period cello in continuous concert use | Privately held; played by leading cellists |
| Lorenzo Storioni | Luthier (maker) | 1744-1816 | Late 18th-century Cremona | Valued as the last of the classical Cremonese makers | Worked in Cremona, Italy |
| J.-B. Vuillaume | Luthier (maker) | 1798-1875 | 19th-century Paris | His instruments and fine copies are prized in their own right | Worked in Paris, France |
| Andrea Amati | Luthier (maker) | c. 1505-1577 | 16th-century Cremona | His surviving instruments are exceptionally rare and historically priceless | Worked in Cremona, Italy |
| G. P. Maggini | Luthier (maker) | c. 1580-c. 1630 | Early 17th-century Brescia | His instruments are rare and esteemed among early Italian work | Worked in Brescia, Italy |
| Jacob Stainer | Luthier (maker) | c. 1617-1683 | 17th-century Tyrol (Austria) | Once valued above Stradivari; still important and collectible | Worked in Absam, Tyrol, in present-day Austria |
| Andrea Guarneri | Luthier (maker) | c. 1626-1698 | 17th-century Cremona | Founding-generation Guarneri instruments are highly valued | Worked in Cremona, Italy |
| Francesco Ruggieri | Luthier (maker) | c. 1628-1698 | 17th-century Cremona | Esteemed Cremonese instruments, especially his cellos | Worked in Cremona, Italy |
| Antonio Stradivari | Luthier (maker) | c. 1644-1737 | Spanning his long career, peaking in the golden period (c. 1700-1720) | His surviving instruments are among the most valuable in the world | Worked in Cremona, Italy |
| Matteo Goffriller | Luthier (maker) | c. 1659-1742 | Late 17th- to 18th-century Venice | His cellos are highly prized; some long passed as other makers' work | Worked in Venice, Italy |
| Domenico Montagnana | Luthier (maker) | c. 1686-1750 | 18th-century Venice | His cellos are among the most coveted ever made | Worked in Venice, Italy |
| The golden period | Topic (collecting) | c. 1700-1720 | Stradivari's mature years | Golden-period instruments are the most sought after of all | Cremona, Italy |
| How Stradivarius violins are valued | Topic (collecting) | — | Modern market | Top examples have sold for millions; many are foundation- or museum-held | Auction houses, dealers, foundations, and museums worldwide |
| Stradivari's varnish | Topic (collecting) | — | Cremonese classical era | Adds to value; original varnish is treasured and carefully preserved | Cremona, Italy |
| The f-holes | Topic (collecting) | — | — | Shape and placement are key clues to attribution and quality | — |
| The scroll | Topic (collecting) | — | — | A signature feature studied closely in authentication | — |
| The sound post | Topic (collecting) | — | — | Tiny but vital; its fitting affects tone and is set by skilled hands | — |
| Why Cremonese violins sound special | Topic (collecting) | — | — | An open scientific question that fuels the instruments' mystique | Cremona, Italy, and research labs worldwide |
| The bridge | Topic (collecting) | — | — | A replaceable part, yet vital to tone and playability | — |
| The 'Little Ice Age' wood theory | Topic (collecting) | — | Climatic period c. 1645-1715 | An intriguing but unproven explanation for the great violins' tone | Alpine forests of northern Italy |
| Restoring old violins | Topic (collecting) | — | — | Skilled, reversible work that protects an instrument's value | Specialist workshops worldwide |
| Stradivari labels and dating | Topic (collecting) | — | — | Labels guide dating but are unreliable on their own due to forgery | — |
| Fakes and misattributions | Topic (collecting) | — | — | A constant risk that makes expert certification essential | — |
| The Nippon Music Foundation | Topic (collecting) | — | Modern era | Holds one of the world's most important groups of Stradivari instruments | Japan; instruments loaned worldwide |
Details are drawn from instrument archives and museum records — the Tarisio/Cozio Archive, the Library of Congress, the Hill catalogue, and major collections. Values are reported auction or private-sale figures (market history), NOT appraisals or investment advice. See our sources & fact-check policy.
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