Leandro Bisiach I

1864 – 1946

 

Leandro Bisiach was an extraordinarily influential maker of the 20th century. He was born in 1864 in Casale Monferrato. He trained as a violinist as a young boy and made his first violin on his own. Because of the promise this first instrument showed, he decided to become a violin maker and moved to Milan in 1886 to work at the Antoniazzi workshop. Here, he became well acquainted with the traditions of the Cremonese school.

Leandro eventually established his own workshop, where he trained many talented and influential luthiers including Gaetano Sgarabotto, Igino Sderci, Giuseppe Ornati, and his own sons Giacomo Bisiach and Leandro II. At the end of his life, he left his business in Milan to his sons Andrea and Carlo Bisiach.

Leandro Bisiach used old recipes to create authentic varnishes for his classic copies. In his research he discovered most significantly the formula for the varnish of the great Antonio Stradivarius from 1704. He used the models of Stradivari, Guarneri, Balestrieri, Guadagnini, Gagliano, and other violin makers from Veneto, Italy in the 18th century. He received many awards from exhibitions including Atlanta 1895-1896, Turin 1898, Paris 1900, Milan 1906 and Brussels 1910.