Extraordinary Stradivari

The 1690 Tuscan-Medici viola by Antonio Stradivari — 16 inches of gorgeous sound and graceful curves of rich spruce and flame maple. The viola, one of only 10 by Stradivari known to exist, is noted for its remarkable state of preservation and beauty.

And, now, it has found a permanent home at the Library through a historic acquisition.

Ferdinando de’ Medici, the grand prince of Tuscany and patron of music in Florence, commissioned the viola from Stradivari in 1690. By the late 1700s, it had arrived in England. There the instrument remained, passing through the hands of various collectors until 1924, when it was sold to American amateur musician and Macy’s department store heir Herbert N. Straus.

In 1957, violist, philanthropist and educator Cameron Baird of Buffalo, New York, purchased the instrument from the Straus estate. After Baird’s death, his wife, Jane, placed the viola on loan with the Library in 1977 in a collaborative custodial arrangement.

Now, through an extraordinary gift to the nation from David and Amy Fulton and the Baird family’s Tuscan Corporation, the viola — valued at $30 million — joins the Library’s world-renowned instrument collection, anchored by the five Stradivari instruments donated by Gertrude Clarke Whittall in 1935. With this gift, the Library now holds two of the 10 Stradivari violas in existence.

Whittall insisted the instruments be accessible to the public through performance, research and the creation of new works and interpretations of classics.

The Library takes that mandate to heart, as when it co-commissioned Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon to write a concerto specifically for the Tuscan-Medici viola. Violist Roberto Díaz premiered the piece at the Library in 2015, and it went on to win the 2018 Grammy Award for best contemporary classical composition.

As the viola celebrates its 335th birthday — now rechristened Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1690, viola, Fulton, ex Baird, Tuscan-Medici — it will be featured in performance during this 100th anniversary season of the Concerts from the Library of Congress series.