Brescia City Council in 1528, the first known example of such in Europe. These instrument makers were located in the Second Quadra St. John, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio del Podestà (now Via Cairoli). From his ability almost immediately to rent a house with a shop in this sought-after neighborhood, and considering the unlikelihood of a substantial inheritance, as well as the conspicuously large family of brothers and sisters whom he helped to support financially, we can surmise that da Salò was enjoying some measure of success in the family's traditional string making trade. His business was successful enough to allow him to marry Isabetta Cassetti, the daughter of an artisan potter and glassmaker three years later. During this time Gasparo da Salò cultivated a deep relationship with Girolamo Virchi, one of the most prominent artist-craftsmen of the city, cited in a 1563 document as "maestro de musica instrumentis." In 1565 Virchi became godfather to da Salò's child Francesco, the first of seven children, including three sons named Marcantonio, two of whom died in infancy, and three daughters. In addition, in that neighborhood there lived two organists of Brescia Cathedral, Fiorenzo Mascara and his successor Costanzo Antegnati, and a noted violin player, Giuseppe Biagini. Like many other Brescian virtuosi multi-instrumentalists (who typically played multiple aerophones, various string instruments, and beginning from the middle of the century the new viola da braccio or violin), Mascara was an excellent viola da gamba player. This direct knowledge of, and friendship with, Virchi and Antegnati's work opened up new artistic horizons resulting in notable improvements to the sound and design of strings and stringed instruments. An Appraisal of the Policy of 1568 (a tax return) testifies to a flourishing business, which continued to grow significantly. In 1575 he bought a house in the Cossere district, his historic headquarters, and subsequently manufactured many instruments. His workshop quickly became one of the most important in Europe in the second half of the 16th century for the production of every type of stringed instrument of the time. Gasparo da Salò developed the art of violin and string making to a very high level, and passed on this tradition to five known students: his eldest son Francisco, Alexandro de Marsiliis from Marseille, France, Giovanni Paolo Maggini from Botticino in the surroundings of Brescia, Jacomo de Lafranchini from Valle Camonica, and a maker known only as Battista. Exports