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Amati Violin

National Museum of American History

Object Details

Amati, Nicolo
Description
This violin was made by Nicolo Amati in Cremona, Italy in 1675. Nicolo Amati (1596-1684) was from the third generation of the famous Amati family in Cremona. The son of Hieronymous I, Nicolo is commonly regarded as the greatest maker of the family. He is renowned for having
developed refinement, elegance and attention to detail not seen in the work of earlier makers. While using a variety of models, he developed a favorite large pattern of exquisite proportions which is known in our time as the “Grand Pattern” Amati. These instruments, with bodies of greater length and width than others of his output, have powerful voices suitable even for the modern soloist. The violin is made of a two-piece table of spruce, back of two-piece slab maple with irregular fine gently descending figure with broad figure at the upper bout corners, ribs of similar maple, grafted maple neck terminating in the original pegbox and scroll of even medium figured maple, and golden-orange-brown varnish.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Anonymous
1675
ID Number
1979.0548.01
accession number
1979.0548
catalog number
1979.0548.01
Object Name
violin
Physical Description
spruce (table material)
maple (back material)
Measurements
overall: 23 1/2 in x 8 1/8 in x 3 3/4 in; 59.69 cm x 20.6375 cm x 9.525 cm
Place Made
Italy: Lombardy, Cremona
See more items in
Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
Music & Musical Instruments
Violins
National Museum of American History
Record ID
nmah_605483
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a4-319d-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Related Content

  • Violins and their Makers

  • Violins and their Makers:Untitled

Amati violin, front view
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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