Gasparo da Salò – violin maker

Founder of the Brescian school of stringed instrument craftsmen

The bust of Gasparo da Salò in Salò

One of Italy’s earliest violin makers, Gasparo da Salò, died on this day in 1609 in Brescia.

He developed the art of string making to a high level and his surviving instruments are still admired and revered.

Da Salò was born Gasparo Bertolotti in Salò, a resort on Lake Garda in 1542.

His father and uncle were violinists and composers and his cousin, Bernardino, was a violinist at the Este court in Ferrara and at the Gonzaga court in Mantua.

Bertolotti received a good musical education and was referred to as ‘a talented violone player’ in a 1604 document about the music at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo.

Bertolotti moved to Brescia on the death of his father and set up shop in an area where there were other instrument makers.

He became known as Gasparo da Salò and his workshop quickly became one of the most important in Europe for the production of every type of stringed instrument that was played at the time.

An example of a
Gasparo violin

His business was so successful that he was able to acquire land and property and provide financial assistance to members of his family.

It is not known whether da Salò was the first craftsman to produce a violin in its modern form. But he built violins that conform to the measurements of the modern violin and developed instruments with a powerful tone that decades later were studied by Antonio Stradivari. He built violas of different sizes as well as cellos and double basses.

About 80 of his instruments are known to have survived to the present day and are in museums. One of his most famous double basses is in the Basilica of San Marco in Venice.

After his death on 14 April 1609, Gasparo da Salò was recorded as buried at a cemetery in Brescia, but the exact location of his grave is unknown.

Travel tip:

Salò, where Gasparo Bertolotti was born, is on the western shore of Lake Garda. Mussolini formed a short-lived republic there in 1943, but the resort recovered after the World War II to become a popular tourist destination and now has a museum commemorating the resistance against Fascism.

Brescia's elegant Piazza della Loggia

Travel tip:

Brescia in Lombardy, where Gasparo da Salò worked and died, is of artistic and architectural importance. Brescia became a Roman colony before the birth of Christ and you can see remains from the forum, theatre and a temple. The town came under the protection of Venice in the 15th century and there is a Venetian influence in the architecture of the Piazza della Loggia, an elegant square, which has a clock tower similar to the one in Saint Mark’s square. Next to the 17th century Duomo is an older cathedral, the unusually shaped Duomo Vecchio, also known as la Rotonda.

More reading:

Antonio Stradivari - maker of the world's most valuable violins

How the Amati family helped make Cremona famous for violins

Muzio Clementi - father of the piano

Also on this day:

1488: The assassination of Girolamo Riario, papal military leader

1920: The birth of Lamberto Dalla Costa, the fighter pilot who became Italy's first Olympic bobsleigh champion



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Giannino Marzotto - racing driver

Double Mille Miglia winner from a famous family

Giannino Marzotto was a flamboyant driver with an
edgy image he was happy to live up to

Giannino Marzotto, a racing driver who twice won the prestigious Mille Miglia and finished fifth at Le Mans, was born on this day in 1928 in Valdagno, a town situated in the mountains about 30km (19 miles) northwest of Vicenza.

He was the great, great grandson of Luigi Marzotto, who in 1836 opened a woollen factory that evolved into the Marzotto Group, one of Italy’s largest textile manufacturers.

Marzotto worked for the company after he retired from motor racing, at one point filling the position of managing director and later company president, before giving up those roles to develop other businesses.

He was one of five sons of Count Gaetano Marzotto, who was the major figure in the Marzotto company in the 20th century, transforming the family business into an international entity and building the Città Sociale, a town adjoining Valdagno characterised by wide, tree-lined boulevards which he built to provide a pleasant and well-appointed community for the workers at the Marzotto factory.

With this wealthy background, Giannino was able to indulge his passion for cars.  Soon after his 20th birthday he entered his father’s Lancia Aprilia in the Giro di Sicilia, finishing 16th overall but second in his class.

A Ferrari 195S Berlinetta similar to the one in which
Marzotto won his first Mille Miglia in 1950

Not long afterwards, he met Enzo Ferrari, who felt he had enough talent behind the wheel to have raced professionally.  Ferrari had ambitions to lead the world in performance racing cars and with his support Giannino and three of his brothers - Vittorio, Umberto and Paolo - entered the 1950 Mille Miglia, the historic endurance test over 1,000 Roman miles (about 1,500km) from Brescia to Rome and back, along a figure-of-eight route that passed through many of central and northern Italy’s major cities, including Verona, Bologna, Florence and Parma.

Giannino and his co-driver Marco Crosara, in the colours of the Ferrari works team, started at the back of the field in their Ferrari 195S Berlinetta yet worked their way through the field to finish five minutes in front and score an improbable victory.  The great Juan Manuel Fangio, who would be Formula One world champion five times in the 1950s, was third.

Marzotto scored a hit with the Italian public not just for his skill behind the wheel but for his insistence on competing in a double-breasted brown suit. 

Ferrari's 340MM Spider, similar to the one in which
Marzotto raced to his second Mille Miglia in 1953

It transpired later that the victory was all the more remarkable for having been prefaced by a row with Ferrari over the performance of the car in practice, after which Luigi Bazzi, the team’s chief technician, admitted to making adaptations to the car to slow it down, because he did not trust the headstrong Marzotto not to kill himself by taking outrageous risks.

Two years later, after relations with Ferrari had become strained, he was due to compete in the Mille Miglia in a new model Alfa Romeo only for it to be assigned to another driver while he was away on business.  He approached Lancia for a car but was told there was no vacant drive and reluctantly went back to Ferrari.

The best they could offer was driver Luigi Villoresi's 340MM Vignale Spider, in which he had won the Giro di Sicilia but had not been touched since and had suffered a loss of brakes towards the end of the event. He asked for it to be prepared for the race but took delivery of it only hours before the start and had no time for any pre-race testing.

Despite some extraordinary problems during the race, such as when mechanics were unable to open the bonnet and had to cut a hole in it to top up the oil, he again overhauled Fangio's Alfa to win his second Mille Miglia, accompanied by Crosara as before.

Giannino Marzotto in 2010, a couple of years
before his death. He smoked all his life.

With his brother, Paolo, as co-driver, Marzotto piloted another Ferrari 340MM, this time the Pininfarina Berlinetta version, to finish fifth at Le Mans the same year.

Marzotto, whose other victories included the Grand Prix de Rouens-les-Essarts in 1951 in a Ferrari 166F2/50, retired from racing in 1953 to take up a position in the Marzotto business.

Later he served two terms as president of the Mille Miglia Club. He died in 2012 at the age of 84.  A good part of his life was spent restoring the neglected Villa Trissino outside Vicenza, built in 1700 but allowed to fall into disrepair, especially during the Second World War.

Very well connected, his friends included the Italian political leader Giulio Andreotti and the ill-fated US president John F Kennedy.

Married with three daughters, he died in 2012 at the age of 84. Coincidentally, his lifelong friend and co-driver Marco Crosara had passed away just five days earlier.

A postcard from Valdagno showing the Viale Trento in 1950

Travel tip:

The Città Sociale, built on the left side of the Agno river, was designed by the Bassano architect Francesco Bonfanti. It was completed in just ten years, from 1927 to 1937 during the period of greatest expansion of the Marzotto company, and comprised 1000 lodgings, a stadium, a school building, a music school, a theatre, a swimming pool, a five-hectare park and other recreational facilities, all of which are still in use today with the exception of the theatre, which closed in 1981.

The entrance to the Villa Trissino Marzotto

Travel tip:

Villa Trissino Marzotto, originally an ancient stronghold about 20km (12 miles) from Vicenza and 11kn (7 miles) from Valdagno, was transformed into a villa in 1700 by a Venetian architect, passed by inheritance to the Conti Da Porto. In 1951 it was purchased by Giannino Marzotto, who brought it back to its original splendour.  Inside, the Villa preserves frescoes, statues, a collection of Gonzaga Pannemaker tapestries, the cartoons of Raffaello and Giulio Romano and a pinacoteca with the Macchiaoli collection. The historic gardens contain centuries-old trees, tree-lined avenues and a lake, all of which is open to guided tours, educational activities and exhibitions by pre-arrangement.

More reading:

How Enzo Ferrari created the world's most famous sports car marque

Champion Mario Andretti inspired by watching Mille Miglia

Why Elio de Angelis was known as 'the last of the gentlemen racers'

Also on this day:

1808: The birth of Antonio Meucci, claimed by some to be the true inventor of the telephone

1920: The birth of controversial banker Roberto Calvi


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Caffarelli – opera singer

Tempestuous life of a talented male soprano

Caffarelli was taught to sing by the renowned
composer and tutor Nicola Porpora

The castrato singer who performed under the stage name of Caffarelli was born Gaetano Maiorano on this day in 1710 in Bitonto in the province of Bari in Apulia.

Caffarelli had a reputation for being temperamental and for fighting duels with little provocation, but he was popular with audiences and was able to amass a large fortune for himself.

One theory is that his stage name, Caffarelli, was taken from his teacher, Caffaro, who gave him music lessons when he was a child, but another theory is that he took the name from a patron, Domenico Caffaro.

When Maiorano was ten years old he was given the income from two vineyards owned by his grandmother to enable him to study music. The legal document drawn up mentioned that the young boy wished to be castrated and become a eunuch.

Maiorano became a pupil of Nicola Porpora, the composer and singing teacher, who is reputed to have kept him working from one sheet of exercises for years before telling him there was no more he could be taught because he was the greatest singer in Europe.

In 1726 Maiorano made his debut in Rome, aged 15, under the stage name Caffarellino. He sang the third female role in Domenico Sarro’s Valdemoro.

A drawing of Caffarelli by the caricaturist
Pier Leone Ghezzi

His fame spread and he performed in Venice, Turin, Milan and Florence.

In London, at the King’s Theatre, he performed the title role in Handel’s Serse, singing the famous aria ‘Ombra mai fu.’

He went on to work in Madrid, Vienna and Lisbon, but his career in France was cut short after he badly wounded a poet during a duel and had to leave the country in disgrace.

Caffarelli took up a post at the royal chapel in Naples and often performed at the Teatro San Carlo in the city. As a first-rate castrato he was able to command large fees and he bought himself impressive estates in Naples and Calabria.

He was unpredictable on stage and sometimes conversed with people in boxes during other performer’s solos. He was sometimes kept under house arrest or put in prison after fighting duels or assaulting someone.

Caffarelli was a mezzo soprano with an extensive range and considered to be one of the finest singers of his time. Unlike his rival, Farinelli, who ended his career at 32, Caffarelli carried on performing well into his fifties.

In later life he is said to have given generously to charity. Caffarelli died in Naples in 1783.

The Piazza Cattedrale in Bitonto

Travel tip:

Bitonto, in Apulia, where Caffarelli was born, is known as the ‘City of Olives’ due to its numerous olive groves, which produce extra virgin olive oil for export to Europe and America. The city lies approximately 11km (7 miles) to the west of Bari and has a medieval castle and a Romanesque Cathedral, the Cattedrale di San Valentino.

Teatro San Carlo in Naples

Travel tip:

Teatro San Carlo in Naples, where Caffarelli regularly performed, is thought to be the oldest opera house in the world. It was officially opened in 1737, way ahead of La Scala in Milan and La Fenice in Venice. The theatre is in Via San Carlo close to Piazza Plebiscito, the main square in Naples. It was designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano for the Bourbon King of Naples, Charles I. In the magnificent auditorium the royal box is surmounted by the crown of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

More reading:

How Farinelli became music's first superstar

Nicola Porpora - opera composer and brilliant teacher

Why Francesca Cuzzoni is remembered as opera's first diva

Also on this day:

1948: The birth of World Cup-winning soccer manager Marcello Lippi

1950: The birth of entrepreneur Flavio Briatore


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Battle of Ravenna

Thousands die in pointless conflict of the Italian Wars

The chaos of the Battle of Ravenna depicted in a
15th century woodcut

French forces inflicted appalling casualties upon a largely Spanish Holy League army on this day in 1512 at Molinaccio just outside Ravenna.

The French, under the command of their brilliant 21-year-old leader Gaston de Foix, had taken Brescia in Lombardy by storm in February and then marched on Ravenna intending to provoke the papal Holy League army into battle. They also had an Italian contingent of soldiers with them under the command of Alfonso I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara.

Ramon de Cardona, Spanish viceroy of Naples and commander of the Holy League forces, led an army through the papal states of the Romagna to relieve Ravenna, passing Forlì and advancing north along the Ronco River.

Both sides had learned the new rules of warfare in the gunpowder age and were reluctant to assault well defended earthworks with cavalry or infantry.

They indulged in an artillery duel and had to manoeuvre unwieldy cannons to find effective lines of fire.

But after two hours they changed tactics and both cavalry and infantry threw themselves forward in assaults. The casualties were heavy as horsemen clashed in swirling melees and infantry swarmed over ramparts and ditches.

Alfonso I d'Este, who led a contingent of
Italian soldiers in the battle

The issue was decided when the French cavalry, having driven the opposing horsemen from the field, returned to attack the Spanish infantry.

While many of his soldiers were slaughtered, Cardona was taken prisoner.

Then, when the battle was effectively over, the French commander De Foix was killed during a pointless skirmish with the retreating Spanish infantry.

It was estimated that the French lost 4,500 men and the Holy League 9,000 in this battle, part of the War of the League of Cambrai, which took place during the long period of the Italian Wars.

The victory failed to help the French secure northern Italy and they were forced to withdraw from the region entirely by August of the same year.

Travel tip:

The Romagna, controlled by the Pope in the 16th century, was a region of Italy that approximately corresponds to the south eastern part of the present day region of Emilia-Romagna. It included the cities of Cesena, Faenza, Forlì, Imola, Ravenna and Rimini, where the Romagnola dialect is still spoken today.

The Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna

Travel tip:

Ravenna, in Emilia-Romagna, was the capital city of the western Roman empire in the fifth century. It is known for its well preserved late Roman and Byzantine architecture and has eight UNESCO world heritage sites. The Basilica of San Vitale is one of the most important examples of early Christian Byzantine art and architecture in Europe.

More reading:

How the Treaty of Lodi brought peace to northern Italy

Ravenna, the Ostrogoths and the Sack of Rome

The murder of papal military leader Girolamo Riario

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