Giovanni Pistucci violin, Naples 1940

Giovanni Pistucci was born in Naples in 1864 and died there in 1955. Influenced by Vincenzo Postiglione II (1835–1916), who is considered the father of the modern Neapolitan school, Pistucci began his career copying primarily Gagliano models-many for the workshop of the last member of the great Gagliano family, Vincenzo Gagliano (c. 1820–1886). To increase sales of his masterful reproductions, Pistucci fabricated highly convincing fake labels for many of his instruments, and to this day his skillfully rendered work can be mistaken for that of older, prestigious makers. Also very prolific, Pistucci increased his production by collaborating with his contemporary Neapolitan makers, including Vittorio Bellarosa (1907–1979), who varnished many of his instruments.