Musicology Annotation << Back Famous Violins Made by the Great Masters of the 17th Century and Their Use in History Hui Li Aim: to investigate the history behind the creation of the most famous violins, those crafted by violin makers Gasparo de Salo, Andrea Amati, Antonio Stradivari, and Andrea Guarneri, and to examine their basic characteristics and unique features. The scientific novelty of this work lies in the comparative analysis of properties unique to violin designs invented in the 17th century, which infl uenced the way those violins sound and their popularity. The research that consisted of several stages aimed at studying the peculiarities of the craftsmanship of creating violins, the development and distribution of an instrument made by famous masters of the 17th century. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of using the features of the creation of the famous violins of the 17th century in order to understand exactly which features effect on the sound the most and try to repeat them in modern conditions, to achieve a unique sound. This will help modern masters and musicians. For this, we collected and systematized information about violins created by Gasparo de Salo, Andrea Amati, Antonio Stradivari and Andrea Guarneri, and the reasons behind their fame and sound uniqueness were established. Future research should focus more on specific characteristics of the instrument, such as wood properties, string properties, shape of the instrument, and its influence on the sound of the violin. Keywords: Antonio Stradivari; the art of violin-making; features of violins; comparison of musical instruments; Brescian school; Cremonese school; Andrea Guarneri. DOI: 10.25791/musicology.6.2022.1257 Pp. 33-37.