16 5/8" Vincenzo Bissolotti viola, Cremona 1975

Contemporary Cremonese violin maker Vincenzo Bissolotti (b. 1958) was born into a prolific family of luthiers. He learned the rudiments of his craft alongside his 3 violin-making brothers in the renowned workshop of their father, Francesco. In 1972, Vincenzo enrolled in the International School of Violin Making in Cremona where his father was a teacher. He completed the program in 1978, and in 1980, he began his tenure as a teacher at his famed alma mater, where alongside his father he trained up and coming violin makers for over 20 years. While Vincenzo never entered his instruments into competition, they have been owned and admired by players and collectors throughout the world. One of his instruments, a baroque lute, is kept in the museum of the violin making school.