Stradivarius violins evolved to perfection (Image by © Owen Franken/Corbis)

Stradivarius violins enjoy an almost mythical status today – and perhaps they did from the moment they first left Antonio Stradivari’s workshop. An analysis of violin body shape confirms that many renowned 17th- and 18th-century violin makers, or luthiers, built instruments inspired by Stradivari’s design.

Computer software has made it easier for evolutionary biologists to study how organisms evolve new shapes over time. Daniel Chitwood, a biologist at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St Louis, Missouri, and an enthusiastic viola player, wondered whether the software could also give an insight into how violin shape evolved.

He used software to analyse the outlines of 7000 violins – built by the most respected luthiers of the last 400 years – from photographs. Given that the fine details of violin shape probably have little impact on the tonal quality of the instrument, says Chitwood, the analysis could have revealed a great deal of subtle variation.

Luthier clusters

In reality, though, the instruments clustered neatly into four groups, each containing one of the great luthiers of the 17th century: Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Nicola Amati, Jacob Stainer – and Stradivari. Of the four, Stradivari inspired the most later luthiers, many working in the decades following his death in 1737.


“It’s really apparent… that with time modern violins converged on the shape of Stradivari’s violins,” says Chitwood. The nature of the software analysis makes it difficult to explain what distinguishes the Stradivari shape, he says. But his instruments are broader along the base and the violin’s waist is closer to the tip of the instrument.

We can think of this shape as a neutral evolutionary trait that gradually spread through the population, he says. “It didn’t necessarily make violins any better, but because everyone perceived Stradivari’s violins as superior and worth copying, traits like the shape went along with that,” Chitwood says.

In fact, evidence earlier this year suggested that Stradivari’s instruments might not represent the pinnacle of violin craftsmanship. Professional violinists were unable to distinguish five of Stradivari’s violins from six newer instruments during a blind playing test. “What that says to me is that Stradivarius violins – while they are, of course, exceptional – are no more exceptional than those of the other great violin makers of history,” says Chitwood.

Widely emulated

The new analysis is brilliantly done, says Stewart Pollens, a New York-based musical instrument restorer and a leading authority on Stradivari. He says the results confirm what history tells us about Stradivari’s influence. “His instruments travelled far and wide,” he says, adding that Stradivari and a few other luthiers were widely emulated.

But Pollens notes that the photos Chitwood used aren’t standardised, so tiny differences in the way the violin rests on a surface when it is photographed can influence its apparent shape. “It’s like pointing a camera up at a tall building – the verticals converge,” he says.

“I worried about that myself,” says Chitwood, adding that over the thousands of instruments studied these effects should come out as “random noise”.

Journal reference: PLoS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109229