Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice on March 4, 1679. From birth, he is struck by an illness that is never diagnosed, and this leads to his mother’s decision to have him provisionally baptised at once. This illness – from which the virtuoso musician suffers all his life – nonetheless doesn’t prevent him from giving recitals at very regular intervals. Convinced that this is thanks to God’s intervention, his mother has him tonsured at 14 years of age, with the approval of her husband, who also firmly believes that this priestly vocation will greatly facilitate his son’s career as an instrumentalist.