Niccolò Paganini’s Il Cannone, the 1743 Giuseppe Guarneri violin on which he unleashed his incendiary feats of musicianship, has been X-rayed by French scientists in the hope that they can unlock the secrets of its sound.

Made by luthier Giuseppe Guarneri in 1743, the instrument is now one of the most famous and precious violins in the world, with an insurance value of nearly AUD$50m.

Il Cannone. Photo Wikimedia Commons

The violin was placed in a clear case while researchers at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, beamed ‘non-destructive’ X-rays at the instrument to reveal – at micron-level detail – its internal structure. Results will take a number of months to materialise but will lead to the generation of a hyper-detailed 3D rendering of the violin; an invaluable resource for future repairs to the priceless instrument.

Luigi Paolasini, project leader at ESRF, said the process “opens new possibilities to investigate the conservation of ancient musical instruments of cultural interest, as a crossing point between music, history and science”.

Niccolò Paganini

The Guarneri violin is among the world’s most famous. It...