Why are musical instruments-even the plainest and most functional-such satisfying objects in themselves? Perhaps because like all tools used in long-established crafts, they have grown into their present shape by a long and completely natural process of evolution. The shape of the violin, for example, is the result not of caprice, but of trial and error. Yes, as the illustrations for this book show, the organic beauty of the perfected instrument is not always enough for the creative craftsman; musical instruments have frequently been turned into richly ornamented works of art which no longer merely express their nature and function but serve to celebrate the art of music. As such they have ranked among the most precious specimens of the collections of the Habsburgs, the Medicis and the great French, Lombard and Venetians patrons.