Matteo Goffriller, Venetian luthier: quick facts
Matteo Goffriller was a founder of the Venetian school of violin making and is regarded as one of the greatest cello makers in history. Working in Venice from the late 17th century, he produced instruments with a powerful, resonant tone. For a long time many of his cellos were wrongly attributed to better-known makers, and only later scholarship restored his name to them, a reminder of how attribution can shift in the rare-instrument world. Today his cellos are highly valued and played by major soloists. Goffriller, like Montagnana, demonstrates the strength of Venetian craftsmanship alongside the Cremonese tradition centred on Stradivari.
Sources: Tarisio — Cozio Archive of stringed instruments; Library of Congress — Stradivari instruments / Whittall Collection; W. Henry Hill, Arthur F. Hill & Alfred E. Hill — 'Antonio Stradivari: His Life and Work (1644–1737)'; The Metropolitan Museum of Art — musical instruments collection. Educational information only — not financial, investment, or appraisal advice. See our sources & fact-check policy.