Amati
[1] Because of their age and rarity, Amati instruments are mostly kept in a museum or private collections and are seldom played in public.
Based in Cremona, Italy, he standardized the basic form, shape, size, materials and method of construction.
Makers from nearby Brescia experimented, such as Gasparo da Salò, Micheli, Zanetto and Pellegrino, but it was Andrea Amati who gave the modern violin family their definitive profile.
The largest number of these are from 1560, a set for an entire orchestra of 38 ordered by Catherine de Médicis the regent queen of France and bore hand painted royal French decorations in gold including the motto and coat of arms of her son Charles IX of France.
"The Brothers Amati", as they were known, implemented far-reaching innovations in design, including the perfection of the shape of the f-holes.
Often considered the most eminent violin maker of the family,[3][4] he improved the model adopted by the rest of the Amatis and produced instruments capable of yielding greater power of tone.
[5] His pattern was unusually small, but he also made a wider model now known as the "Grand Amati", which have become his most sought-after violins.
[citation needed] While the label on Stradivari's first known violin states that he was a pupil of Amati, the validity of his statement is questioned.
[citation needed] Amati instruments include some of the oldest extant examples of the violin family, dating to as far back as the mid-16th century.
Instruments in the UK include Andrea Amati violins from the set delivered to Charles IX of France in 1564.
Andrea Amati ca 1536 Originally a tenor viola, the front is of pine of slightly wavy grain of medium width.
It features gilt paintings of fleurs-de-lis and trefoils on its back, surrounding the monogram identified by Italian scholar Renato Meucci to be that of Marguerite de Valois-Angoulême.
The Latin motto painted in gilt around the monogram, as well as around the ribs, is identical to that found on the Museum's Amati violin made at about the same time and may relate to the court of King Philip II of Spain.
The loss of some of the mottoes' text, as well as other decorative elements painted on the back, clearly reveals that this instrument was reduced in both length and width from its original, large tenor dimensions.
Fine Strings National Music Museum, The University of South Dakota National Music Museum, The University of South Dakota Tarisio Andrea Amati ca 1564 Large tenor viola with Charles IX decoration.
Tarisio Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1580–90 This instrument was cut down in size around 1800 from an original length of about 47 cm.
Girolamo Amati ca 1590 One-piece back, covered with a painting of the armorial bearings of Henry IV supported on each side by an angel.
Antonio & Girolamo Amati, ca 1594 Commissioned for the Medici family, known as the 'Viola Medicea' or the 'Viola del Crocifisso' after the crucifix decoration on its back.
The Strad Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1615 One-piece back of medium curl sloping from left to right.
Tarizio Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1620 One of the few surviving tenors which has not been reduced in size for modern playing.
Royal Academy of Music London Tarisio Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1620 Two-piece back; the wax seal below the button depicts a woman's head.
Tarisio Ingles & Hayday Girolamo Amati ca 1625 Labelled "Antonius, & Hieronymus, Fr.
The subject of the book The Girolamo Amati viola in the Galleria Estense, Treasures of Italian Violin Making Vol I, 2014 Nicolò Amati, date unknown Tarisio Nicolo Amati ca 1663 Two-piece spruce top of medium width grain widening to the edges, two-piece back of quarter sawn maple with faint flame of narrow width mostly horizontal, ribs and scroll of similar maple, and varnish of an orange-brown color over a golden ground.
