Born in 1760 in the village of Formigosa, a few kilometers east of Mantua, Pietro Barbieri arrived in the city with his family in about 1775, but the first signs of his interest in the world of musical instruments date back to the beginning of the following century, when we find him among the students of the violin class at the public music school. The first instruments he signed are even later, but it is possible that Barbieri had already frequented for some time a circle of passionate of this instrument, including his neighbor Alessandro Zanti, a well-known violinist who occasionally also dedicated himself to violin making.
Only during the second part of his life did Pietro Barbieri follow the same path, being active as a professional musician and making a probably rather small number of instruments, about twenty. His violins are however rather refined and show the still strong influence that Pietro Guarneri's style enjoyed in the city: following the latter's example, his preferred a well-rounded pattern, his f-holes have large lower and upper holes and the heads are drawn on a model that recalls that of his predecessor, with a generously sized central eye. Barbieri died in Mantua in 1831.
