Messiah Stradivarius
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The Messiah-Salabue Stradivarius of 1716 is a violin made by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona.
The Messiah, sobriquet Le Messie, remained in the Stradivarius workshop until his death in 1737. It was then sold by his son Paolo to Count Cozio di Salabue in 1775, and for a time, the violin bore the name Salabue. The instrument was then purchased by Luigi Tarisio in 1827, and later by French luthier Jean Baptiste Vuillaume of Paris purchased the Messiah along with Tarisio's entire collection upon Tarisio’s death in 1854.
"One day Tarisio was discoursing to Vuillaume on the merits of this unknown and marvelous instrument, when the violinist Jean-Delphin Alard (who was also Vuillaume's son-in-law), who was present, exclaimed: 'Then your violin is like the Messiah: one always expects him but he never appears' ('Ah, ça, votre violon est donc comme le Messie; on l'attend toujours, et il ne parait jamais'). Thus the violin was baptized with the name by which it is still known."[1]
The Messiah eventually was bequeathed to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England. As a condition in the will of the former owner, the Museum can never allow the violin to be played.[citation needed] Today, the violin remains unplayed and is almost in its original state as when it was made in 1716. Because of this, it is one of the most valuable of all the Stradivari instruments.[citation needed]
The authenticity of the Messiah has been called into question by Stewart Pollens, a conservator at the Metropolitan Museum.[2]
A fine copy without number of the period 1868 ex-Garcin, which once belonged to Wurlitzer, and Lewis of Chicago & 2936 of 1873[3]
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