Of course, given that it is the largest number of the legendary luthier's instruments ever to be gathered together in the UK, it could hardly fail to amaze, but I was equally struck by how successfully the Ashmolean had made the subject accessible and enjoyable, without being patronising.  The museum has taken a wonderfully holistic approach; the exhibition celebrates not only the maker's craftsmanship and the instruments as works of art, but also the place the instruments hold in history, their links with great musicians, and the music they were built to produce.  This last comes in the form of a fantastic audio guide, full of recordings of the very instruments in the exhibition.  It brings them sparklingly to life.

The exhibition begins with a display showing the stages in a violin's journey from spruce log to finished instrument, which is accompanied by a video of a modern Cremonese violin maker at work.  Next comes a case of Stradivari's own tools and patterns, set next to a working mock-up of a modern luthier’s (maker of stringed instruments) workshop.  This introductory room offers a gentle reminder of the hours of patient, careful, skilled work it takes to make an instrument, and that the techniques and processes used now are largely unchanged since Stradivari perfected them three hundred years ago.  What better preparation for the main body of the exhibition than to understand that any luthier should be admired for their alchemical transformations of tree into sound, let alone this giant, this paragon, this maker of legend?

Entering into the main gallery, you meet first a violin known as 'Serdet'.  The label inside, dated 1666, is the earliest evidence we have of Stradivari's very existence, and the only evidence that he was a pupil of Amati.  Stradivari was obviously already a very accomplished maker at this time, but was yet to discover his own style; the 'Serdet' has much in common with Amati's work, with markedly curved f-holes and broad shoulders.

A striking difference can be seen between this first known example of Stradivari's work and the next instrument in the exhibition, the 'Cipriani-Potter', made in 1683, which Dr Jon Whiteley, Senior Curator of European Art at the Ashmolean, described as 'stronger, bulkier, sturdier'.  Throughout the rest of the exhibition it can be seen that Stradivari was, as Dr Whitely put it, 'Restlessly experimenting ... for the perfect balance between volume and expressive tone'.  The core of the exhibition comprises instruments from what is known as Stradivari's 'Golden Period', made of shimmering flamed maple, and with deep reddish-orange varnish.  In the words of Dr Whiteley, 'These are no common-or-garden Stradivari, if there is such a thing: they are the greatest, the proudest, the finest of them all.' 

This exhibition doesn't only tell Stradivari's story.  Another hand's work is very visible in many of the instruments - that of Victorian-era French violin maker Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, who adapted many of the instruments to accommodate the higher tension of modern strings and the new demands posed by the music of the burgeoning Romantic era.  He also added decoration such as carved tailpieces and his signature ornamented tuning pegs. 

The other names which leap out of the cases are those of master musicians, such as Viotti and Kreisler.   From the preservationists' point of view, wear and tear (which, eventually, will kill an instrument) seems almost criminal, but I was delighted to see on these legendary instruments exactly the same marks as on my own violin.  To know that these marks had been made whilst serving as working instruments in the hands of such players made it even more exciting.

I was surprised, in this room full of regal violins, violas and cellos, to find myself most moved by a more humble instrument.  Gazing at a small mandolin with crooked frets made of gut, nestled, armadillo-esque, in a paper-lined case, I found myself contemplating Stradivari the man, rather than Stradivarius the legend.

I came away from this elegant exhibition wishing I could spend many more hours in the company of these instruments and their ghosts.

On Tuesday 9th July at 11am there will be a tour by Dr Jon Whiteley which I highly recommend; his knowledge of the subject and the exhibition is seemingly boundless, and his delivery very engaging.