Sons of Giovanni (I), in turn descendant of Nicolò Gagliano, Raffaele and Antonio demonstrate the surprising continuity of production through successive generations of the family and at the same time a qualitative decline that occurred during the 19th century, at least with respect to awareness of classical models.
Raffaele and Antonio, whose production dates from the first half of the nineteenth century, had a less accurate choice of materials than their predecessors: spruce with a wide grain and often of local origin, and maple with poor and irregular curl, which they sometimes simulated by painting it on an almost plain wood. Their rather asymmetrical violin model is often small in size but with massive corners, oriented towards the outside; the F-holes are close together. Frequently the purfling on the back is simply scratched and filled with ebony paste instead of being inlaid. Internally, the materials are those of the family tradition, with the use of spruce and beech; the scroll model is typically Neapolitan, with a constraint volute, but the peg box is rather straight and the throat isn't very deep.
