Marino Capiccioni Rimini, 1971

Capicchioni (1895 - 1977)learned woodworking in his father's shop, which made carriage wheels, chairs and wine barrels.

He made his first violin at age 20 and honed his craft to earn a silver medal for a violin in a 1923 trade fair in San Marino, Italy.

Capicchioni married Antonia Stacchini in 1924 and had a son, Mario, in 1926. The hand carved Art Nouveau-style bedroom furniture Capicchioni made for his wife, still exists in the family home today.

The family in 1929 moved to Rimini, where Capicchioni opened a violin making shop. He won a gold medal in Padva in 1931 and again in 1932.

In 1937, he took third prize for a quartet of instruments at a Cremona exhibition of violin making commemorating the 200th anniversary of Antonio Stradivarius' death. Capicchioni's instruments from the exhibition are still on display at the Museum of Modern Violin Making in Cremona.

Capicchioni's craftsmanship is considered to have been perfected in the 1950s. Yehudi Menuhin ordered a violin in 1961, and David Oistrakh ordered two in 1965, one for himself and one for his son, Igor.

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