He had a very large family. He married Francesca Ferraboschi, a widow eight years his senior. His six children were born from this relationship, two of them, Francesco and Omobono, also became luthiers. After the death of his wife, in 1698, he married another woman and became the father again of five other children.
Antonio built his reputation through 75 years of hard work, optimizing his instruments from both an aesthetic and sound point of view. His was a complex art, requiring not only competence, but also passion. The first instruments were very original: Stradivari he intensified the color of the paint, changed the curvatures and chose more suitable woods than those used up to now.
His best instruments, all signed with the inscription “Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis faciebat Anno [fecha]“, they were made between 1698 and 1730. From that date the signature became”Sub discipline Stradivarii“because, probably, it included the work of his children, who were also very capable, but did not have the artistic gift of their father.
Stradivarius’ fame spread throughout Europe, thanks to musicians who praised his work. The master not only built violins and violas, but also stringed instruments such as harps, guitars and lutes.
In all his work there are more than 1100 musical instruments of his production, of which 650 still exist. Stradivarius today have great value and are very valuable assets: the highest price paid was $ 1 million and 790 thousand pounds in 2006, at Christie’s auction room in London.
Antonio he died on December 18, 1737 in Cremona, a few months after the death of his second wife. Both are buried in the Basilica of San Domenico, near Piazza Roma, where a tombstone has also been given to pay tribute to the master.