Guitar Heros at the Met

Guitar Heros

In the late eighteenth century, Naples was the largest city on the Italian peninsula and one of the largest cities in all of Europe. It had a vibrant musical culture, including a thriving operatic tradition, and had been a center for the production of harpsichords for two hundred years. By mid-century, Neapolitan luthiers were also gaining prominence; families such as the Gaglianos were among the most important in the manufacture of violins, while the Vinaccia and Fabricatore families introduced innovations to the construction of guitars and mandolins. Naples remained the most important center in Italy for the production of stringed instruments through the nineteenth century.


Around the turn of the twentieth century, millions of Italians immigrated to the United States. This mass migration was triggered by the economic situation in Italy, following the political and social turmoil of unification. These immigrants, the majority of whom were from agricultural regions, settled in metropolitan areas such as New York in enclaves known as Little Italys. Metropolitan New York became the major Italian American center, home to a large number of immigrants from southern Italy who brought with them their culture, including their music and musical instruments. In 1880 an ensemble of folk musicians from Spain called The Spanish Students toured the United States playing the bandurria, a small plucked instrument. The group caused a sensation, but their bandurrias were misidentified by the public and the press as mandolins. Italian musicians soon capitalized on this situation by forming their own ensembles and touring the country imitating the Spanish troupe, and a craze for mandolins soon swept America. Between 1880 and 1920 thousands of mandolins were imported from Italy and many luthiers moved to New York and began manufacturing the instruments locally.

New York City and nearby New Jersey, Long Island, and Westchester County have been home to a vibrant Italian American population since the late nineteenth century. Within this community, a remarkable tradition of lutherie (stringed-instrument making) has flourished. Italian American craftsmen have produced an enormous variety of musical instruments, from traditional European-style violins, mandolins, and guitars to newer American instruments such as archtop guitars and mandolins and even electric guitars. Since the 1930s, makers from this tradition in the New York region have become especially well known for their extraordinary archtop guitars. This exhibition examines the work of three remarkable craftsmen from this heritage—John D'Angelico, James D'Aquisto, and John Monteleone—their place in the extended context of Italian and Italian American instrument making, and the inspiration of the sights and sounds of New York City.