Antonio Amati

Antonio Amati (c. 1537 – 4 March 1607) was an Italian luthier, active from 1560 to 1605.

Biography

Born in Cremona, Andrea Amati's son and Girolamo Amati's brother, Antonio worked first with his father, then with his brother, in the same workshop. With the latter, he refined his construction technique and style. For about ten years, they co-signed their works with their Latinized names: "Antonius & Hieronymus Amati"

Instruments

The instruments with the common label of Antonio and Girolamo can hardly be assigned to the individual brothers, even for experts. They worked extraordinarily cleanly and experimented on the construction of the violin, especially on the contours, vaults and f-holes. Characteristic is a recessed gorge, which is responsible for the warm tone of their exhibits.

The Cremonese violin-making school
Andrea Amati c. 1505–1577 Antonio Amati c. 1537–1607 Girolamo Amati 1561–1630 Nicola Amati 1596–1684 Jacob Stainer c. 1618–1683 Antonio Stradivari 1644–1737 Girolamo Amati II 1649–1740 Andrea Guarneri 1626–1698 F. Stradivari 1671–1743 O. Stradivari 1679–1742 Pietro Guarneri 1655–1720 Giuseppe Guarneri 1666–c. 1739/40 Giuseppe Guarneri "del Gesu" 1698–1744 Pietro Guarneri "de Venice" 1695–1762
solid lines = Pere-Fils (father to son) dashed lines = Maitre-Eleve (master to student)

See also

• Giuseppe Guarneri
• Antonio Stradivari
• Amati Violas

Bibliography

• William Henley's Universal Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers, Brighton, Amati, 1973.
• Cacciatori, Fausto: Il DNA degli Amati, Cremona 2006, ISBN 978-8889839119.
• Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG2), Personenteil Vol. 1, Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999.
• Stefan Drees: Lexikon der Violine, Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2004, ISBN 978-3-89007-544-0.
• Walter Kolneder: Das Buch der Violine. Bau, Geschichte, Spiel, Pädagogik, Komposition. Atlantis Musikbuchverlag, Zürich 1993, ISBN 3-254-00147-8.
• Philip J. Kass: The Stati D’Anime of S. Faustino in Cremona: Tracing the Amati Family 1641-1686, Violin Society of America, 1999.
• Philip J. Kass: Nicolo Amatl: His Life and Times, Journal of the Violin Society of America, 15-2. 1996.

External links

• La famille Amati