Amati
Encyclopedia
Amati is the name of a family of Italian
violin
makers, who flourished at Cremona
from about 1549 to 1740.
. His work is marked by great elegance and an awareness of geometrical principles in design.
, in contrast to older tenor violas, but this stating is not correct since Gasparo made violas from altos of 39 to tenors of 44,7 cm.
. 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.
Of his pupils, the most famous were Antonio Stradivari
and Andrea Guarneri
, the first of the Guarneri family of violin makers. (There is much controversy regarding the apprenticeship of Antonio Stradivari. While Stradivari's first known violin states that he was a pupil of Amati, the validity of his statement is questioned.)
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
makers, who flourished at Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
from about 1549 to 1740.
Andrea Amati
Andrea Amati (ca. 1505 – ca. 1578) was not the earliest maker of violins whose instruments still survive today. Indeed he seems more or less responsible together with Gasparo da Salò and some Micheli's like Zanetto or Pellegrino for giving the instruments of the modern violin family their definitive profile. A very small number of his instruments survive, dated between the years of 1560 and 1574 and most bearing the coat of arms of Charles IX of FranceCharles IX of France
Charles IX was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death. His reign was dominated by the Wars of Religion. He is best known as king at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Childhood:...
. His work is marked by great elegance and an awareness of geometrical principles in design.
Antonio and Girolamo Amati
Andrea Amati was succeeded by his sons Antonio Amati (born ca. 1550) and Girolamo Amati (1551–1635). "The Brothers Amati", as they were known, implemented far-reaching innovations in design, including the perfection of the shape of the f-holes. They are also thought to have pioneered the modern alto format of violaViola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, in contrast to older tenor violas, but this stating is not correct since Gasparo made violas from altos of 39 to tenors of 44,7 cm.
Nicolo Amati
Nicolò Amati (December 3, 1596 – April 12, 1684) was the son of Girolamo Amati. He was the most eminent of the family. He improved the model adopted by the rest of the Amatis and produced instruments capable of yielding greater power of toneTimbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
. 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.
Of his pupils, the most famous were Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari was an Italian luthier and a crafter of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas, and harps. Stradivari is generally considered the most significant artisan in this field. The Latinized form of his surname, Stradivarius, as well as the colloquial, "Strad", is...
and Andrea Guarneri
Andrea Guarneri
Andrea Guarneri was an Italian luthier and founder of the house of Guarneri violin makers.-Biography:Thought to be born in 1626 to Bartolomo Guarneri in the parish of Cremona, Italy, very little is known about Andrea Guarneri's family of origin...
, the first of the Guarneri family of violin makers. (There is much controversy regarding the apprenticeship of Antonio Stradivari. While Stradivari's first known violin states that he was a pupil of Amati, the validity of his statement is questioned.)
Girolamo Amati (Hieronymus II)
The last maker of the family was Nicolo's son, Girolamo Amati, known as Hieronymus II (February 26, 1649 – February 21, 1740). Although he improved on the arching of his father's instruments, by and large they are inferior and no match for the greatest maker of his day, Antonio Stradivari.Extant Amati instruments
- Amati instruments at the (University of South Dakota, US) National Music Museum:
- Andrea Amati:
- Girolamo Amati:
- Nicolò Amati:
- Amati instruments at the (New York, US) Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
- Andrea Amati:
- Nicolò Amati:
In popular culture
- Patrick O'BrianPatrick O'BrianPatrick O'Brian, CBE , born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centred on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen...
's fictional British sea captain Jack AubreyJack AubreyJohn "Jack" Aubrey, KB , is a fictional character in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The series portrays his rise from Lieutenant to Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The twenty -book series encompasses Aubrey's adventures and various commands along...
is described as owning a "fiddle far above his station, an Amati no less," in The Surgeon's Mate. In the Wine-Dark Sea, book fifteen of the series, Stephen Maturin now has a Girolamo Amati and Aubrey a GuarneriGuarneriThe Guarneri is the family name of a group of distinguished luthiers from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the Amati and Stradivari families...
. - In the mangaMangaManga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series Gunslinger GirlGunslinger GirlGunslinger Girl is an ongoing manga by Yu Aida. It first premiered in the November 2002 issue of the monthly shōnen magazine Dengeki Daioh. The chapters are also being published in tankōbon volumes by ASCII Media Works. 13 volumes have been released in Japan as of April 2011...
, Henrietta carries an Amati violin case. It contains a Fabrique Nationale P90FN P90The FN P90 is a selective fire personal defense weapon designed and manufactured by FN Herstal in Belgium. The P90's name is taken from 1990, the year it was introduced...
when on a mission, otherwise it contains a real violin.