Niccolò Paganini

Niccolò Paganini (Genoa, 27 October 1782 – Nice, 27 May 1840) was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist and composer, one of the most important exponents of Romantic music. Even today, his figure is surrounded by legends linked to his prodigious genius (some of them even fuelled by the environment of 19th-century Romanticism) and the alleged pact with the devil he made to become famous and obtain unparalleled skill with the violin, thus contributing to the mythologising of his figure. The Cannone is a violin made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù in Cremona in 1743. It was the violin of Niccolò Paganini, who gave it this name in homage to its sonorous power. Today it is kept in the Strada Nuova Museum, Genoa.