Guarneri
Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri (del Gesù), also known as Joseph (21 August 1698 - 17 October  1744), has been called the finest violin maker of the Amati line (Amati and his pupils). Giuseppe is known as del Gesù because his labels always have the characters I.H.S. (iota-eta-sigma) and a Roman cross. His instruments are different from the others made by his family.  They are thought of as the greatest violins with the exception of those by Stradivari. The famous violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini’s favorite instrument was a Guarneri del Gesù violin of 1743. The "Lord Wilton" Guarneri del Gesù violin made in 1742 was owned by Yehudi Menuhin and other Twentieth-century 'del Gesù' players have included, Arthur Grumiaux, Jascha Heifetz, Isaac Stern and Henryk Szeryng.