Marco Vinicio Bissolotti
Born in Castelleone (Cremona province), 18 January 1956.
Marco Vinicio Bissolotti grew up amongst wood, violins and the smell of varnish. He became interested in musical instruments as a child and commenced studyng music and the clasical guitar, a study he still pursues today.
During his adolescence he began to study violinmaking under his father's guidance.
He had always been especially attracted to the shapes and beauty of the renaissance and baroque lutes which his father made during those years, and as a consequence he became interested in antique and baroque music.
In 1973, accompanied by his brother Maurizio, a violinmaking student, he visited the workshop of the dealer and restorer, Adolph Primavera, in Philadelphia (USA) where he had the opportunity of seeing many antique instruments. Here he found a rich library of violinmaking texts which inspired him to study the history of violinmaking, in particular the Cremonese School.
He temporarily left the violinmaking world to dedicate himself assiduously to his university studies which he concluded with brillant results. His interest in the profession of his father and brothers was very much alive however, and he occasionally visited his father's workshop. After several unsatisfactory professional experiences Marco Vinicio once more returned to violin wood and varnish. From 1985 to 1990 he learnt the basics of carpentry, carving and engraving with the help of his father and then dedicated himself to the restoration of antique furniture.
He began studyng violinmaking in 1990 under his father's guidance and in 1995 he definitively established himself in his father's workshop and began to sign his own instruments.
In 1998 he began teaching courses on the History of String Instruments and Violinmaking Construction at the three-year violinmaking course held in Pattada, Sardegna.
Marco's knowledge of violinmaking has solely been influenced by his father's teachings, of whom he can be considered a pure disciple. His work is inspired by the models of the old Cremonese violinmakers such as Stradivari, the Amatis, the Guarneris, Francesco Ruggeri as well as the old Brescian violimakers Gaspare da Salò and Gian Paolo Maggini. He particularly enjoys making violins with models of Camillo de Camilli from Mantua, appreciating their elegance and full-bodied forms.
He uses the same varnish adopted by his father and takes approximately a month to make a violin in the white and two months for the varnish.
The violin is completed after approximately two and a half months.
He dedicates particular care to the harmony of the lines as well as the sound of the instrument.
Marco is suspicious of those who search for perfection without any emotional involvement; his own personality emerges through his work without disappearing behind a mere technical approach.
He considers the art of violinmaking a mystical search and voyage towards one's inner self.