Born in 1831, Grulli approached the world of musical instruments through the construction of pianos and only dealt with violin making starting from 1862, beginning a more constant production from the 1870s and 80s, when he was virtually the only luthier who was still active in Cremona.
He often used local maple and spruce with a marked grain, following a personal pattern with rather sloping shoulders and two bulges in the area of the upper and lower blocks. The F-holes are also characteristic, with very wide and horizontal wings and pointed notches. For his heads, he occasionally sourced from foreign producers, but he also made some personal scrolls.
