Amati

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Excerpt from the Amati family tree

The Amati were a Cremonese violin-making dynasty with possibly German roots that can be traced back to 1097.

The Five Great Amati lived between 1520 and 1740, and they established Cremona's reputation as a violin town:

  • The Amati violin making tradition began with Andrea Amati (1505–1577). He used wood selected client than it had hitherto been customary for the instrument, and changed the top viol form one of today's violin shape resembling model.
  • His sons Antonio Amati (around 1540–1607) and Girolamo Amati (around 1555 – around 1630), also known as the Amati brothers , made first violins of good quality.
  • Nicola Amati (1596–1684), a son of Girolamo Amati, was the most prominent representative of the dynasty. He may have been the teacher of Antonio Stradivari and Andrea Guarneri , who each founded their own families of violin makers.
  • Girolamo (II.) Amati (1649-1740) was a son of Nicola Amati. Despite important works, he stands in the shadow of his classmate Antonio Stradivari.

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