Born in Legnano in 1922, he initially trained with Antonio Zatta and began making instruments after the Second World War. Although with a declared inspiration to Tommaso Balestrieri, Stefano Scarampella and Giuseppe Ornati, whose workshop he had frequented, Barbieri's style is quite personal and typical for his historical period.
His models are quite robust, with wide and angular corners; the fluting of the plates is brought to the outside towards the edges; the heads have a short peg box and a shallow throat, while the volutes are massive and with a generously sized central eye; in contrast to this, his F-holes often have a rather delicate appearance. Barbieri had a remarkable production, carefully choosing his materials and a good workmanship; he died in Mantua in 1989.
