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Cooking the varnish - a seven-day process
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How to make a violin: in pictures
14. Cooking the varnish - a seven-day process
The varnish is then prepared - a complex process over seven days. Here, Mathias Menanteau, a French violin maker, prepares the varnish in his workshop in Rome. According to some experts, the secret to the wonderful sound of Stradivarius violins, is the varnish the maker used. No-one has managed to recreate the recipe yet… Picture: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images
