Biography

From Ian Woodlfield : The Early history of the viol

To judge by the number of their instruments that have survived, the most prolific Venetian viol makers of the second half of the 16th century were the Cicilianos, Antonio and his son Battista.

The first member of the Ciciliano family to achieve a widespread reputation, however, did so as a player rather than a maker.In his Ragionamenti Cosimo Bartoli refers to an excellent player of 'the'viola' called 'Il Siciliano' who, he recalls, was in the service of Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici (d1535). 'Il Siciliano' was evidently one of the outstanding players of his generation, and several commentators of the 1540s and issos refer to his talents with approbation. Writing in1543, Ganassi praises the skill of 'un Messer Ioanbattista Cicilian', ranking him as one of the most expert viol players of his acquaintance. Vasari records that in 1546 Titian's son Orazio painted one 'Messer Battista Ciciliano. . . an excellent player of the viol' ('eccelente sonatore di Violone'). Then in 1553 in his Dialogo Secondo delta Musica Luigi Dentice refers to four musicians of whom 'M. Battista Siciliano' was one. Whether this outstanding violist was related to the two viol makers of'the same name must remain an open question, though it would seem quite likely.

The eider of the two makers, active around the mid 16th century, was Antonio Ciciliano, who, according to Witten, is mentioned in Venetian documents of 1566, 1569 and 1581.

Viols

Specificities

Four of Antonio's instruments survive:

• Three are in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, a tenor (C.75), a bass (C.76) and a large bass (C.77);
• One is in the Museo Civico Medievale, Bologna (1761).

Four bass viols survive by Antonio's son Battista Ciciliano:

• Three in Brussels (M.1424, M.1425 and M.1426)
• One in Yale University.

Battista Ciciliano signed his instruments 'Battista son of Antonio Ciciliano in Venicel ('Batista fiol d ant' cicilian in Va'); . Antonio's extant viols conform in almost every respect to the mid 16th- century Venetian mortel. Like Hainrich Ebert, Antonio incorporated a carved floral motif in the centre of the spiral groove of his scrolls, and his fingerboards display a geometric pattern. One of his surviving tenor viols (C75) makes a minor departure from the usual body outline by having slightly pointed corners to its waists. Battista's bass viols, while obviously modelled on the standard mid 16th-century Venetian pattern, differ from his father's instruments in their rather broader body outline. Other points worth noting are Battista's preference for nicked c-holes and less sharply sloping shoulders, and his different approach to carving the scroll, which has no floral decoration and fluting only over the top.

The Ciciliano viols have carved rather than bent tops, reflecting the growing preference for this type of construction, but the top of Antonio's large bass, though carved, was apparently also bent to increase its arching. Of the eight extant Ciciliano viols, two are tenors, five are basses and one is a large bass. This distribution is no accident of fate. Rather it reflects the marked preference in Italy, as elsewhere in Europe, for consorts of large viols. Even in the mid 16th century the tenor-bass bass grouping was still preferred to the treble-tenor-bass consort