The Soul Of The World's Most Expensive Violin

The Vieuxtemps Guarneri is a violin (built by Italian instrument maker Giuseppe Guarneri) that is older than the United States of America - 273 years old, to be exact. The violin is named for its most famous owner, the leading 19th-century Belgian virtuoso and composer Henri Vieuxtemps, who loved it so much he wanted to be buried with it.

It recently became the most expensive violin in the world, selling for an estimated $16 million. Its new owner anonymously donated the historic instrument to violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, on loan for the rest of her life.