Maker Background
Mario Capicchioni (1926–2022) learned his craft beside his father Marino in Rimini and spent more than three decades working with him. Competition success in the 1950s, crowned by a gold medal for a viola in 1959, established his own name.
Mario was the eldest child of Marino Capicchioni, the maker born near San Marino who built his reputation in Rimini. He joined the family workshop as a young man in the early 1940s, first as his father's assistant and later as a full partner; many instruments from those decades carry both their names on the label.
In the early 1950s he collected prizes in Florence and Rome, and in 1959 he received a gold medal for a viola built on the model associated with Lionel Tertis — the highlight of his individual career. After Marino's death in 1977 he carried on in Rimini, working on the family model.
