Aldo Pagliacci
Aldo Pagliacci
Italian, 1913 - 1991
Born in S.Benedetto del Tronto, close to Ascoli Piceno, he had artistic talent that was apparent from an early age. He took part in the Venice Biennale in 1929 or 1930 at age 16 or 17 (sources are undecided). Soon after he moved to Roma. In 1936 he volunteered to be part of the invasion of Ethiopia, where he ended up in a prisoner of war camp. He returned to Italy in 1946.
The next 20 years had him living and working in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Bolivia and Venezuela. In 1971, he opened his workshop in Roma.This period of his life was marked more by travels to the north of Europe, specifically Germany, Holland, Sweden and Norway. Finally in around 1980 he settled down on the Island of Ischia (off the coast of Napels). By then he had lost a leg to circulatory problems and he would remain there for the last 10 years of his life. Sources are divided on the date of his death ranging from 1990 to 1992.
Violin making: We believe he met various makers in central Italy (Ascoli Piceno) quite early on, since this would be in keeping with the general style. A other version of events is that he picked up the skill in South America, from the numerous Italian emigrants or during his stay in Rome. The truth is probably a mixture of both.
We know a violin dated 1973 with a production number 50. At this stage he can no longer be classified as an amateur. Some sources mention him using a Landolfi model. We cannot confirm this but believe his models to be based on central Italy (Marches). The Marches region is known for the same use of very long and swinging f-holes. Furthermore, Pagliacci’s models are always wide (upper bout + 170mm) and rounded, very different to C.F. Landolfi. His corners are short and the arching is flat. The varnish ranges from a rather rigid orange to a soft red. There are supposed to be over 100 instruments by him. We would love to see more of this maker especially more of his early work, which would most likely shed light on his origins as a violin maker. He might have inflated the numbers - but not by much, just due to the skill shown.
There are no works to discover for this record.