the violin, known as the "messiah" ("messie" in french), remained in stradivari's workshop until his death in 1737. it was then sold by his son paolo to count cozio di salabue in 1775, and for a time, the violin bore the name "salabue". the instrument was then purchased by luigi tarisio in 1827. upon tarisio’s death, in 1854, the french luthier jean baptiste vuillaume of paris purchased the "messiah" along with tarisio's entire collection. "one day tarisio was discoursing with vuillaume on the merits of this unknown and marvelous instrument, when the violinist jean-delphin alard, vuillaume's son-in-law, exclaimed: 'really, mister tarisio, your violin is like the messiah of the jews: one always expects him but he never appears' ('vraiment, monsieur tarisio, votre violon est comme le messie des juifs: on l'attend toujours, mais il ne paraît jamais' ). thus the violin was baptized with the name by which it is still known."