Scan 43
Cremona: an account of the Italian violin-makers and their instruments, 1894
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 21. See the scan on archive.org.
1Until the marriage of Hieronymus (z) the brothers worked together; they improved on their father's model, and used rather flatter archings, which caused their instruments to improve as to power. Although their names are placed together in the instruments, only few bear witness to joint workmanship, that is very different in each case, and the younger was much superior to the elder (a). Antonius did not depart much from his father's principles; he changed the F holes but little, and in other respects his work was extremely good.
3Hieronymus, on the other hand, possessed the making of an artist to a greater extent; he created new designs, and the F holes are narrower and have an elegant shape. Both brothers differ also in the form of the scroll; that of Hieronymus has more curve. The varnish is darker in the earlier instruments than in the latter—a clear orange colour; it is put on very thin, and has a brightness and a transparency which allow the pine wood, invariably used by them, to be the better displayed. Henri Wieniawsky played on a violin of this kind, of a large model. (b)
5(z) Hieronymus Amati married, firstly, Ippolita Zucchielli, in 1576, by whom he had five daughters, and secondly, Laura Lazzarini, in 1584, by whom he had five daughters and four sons, of whom Nicolas, the greatest of the family, was the third.
7(a) This differs from the opinion, probably with justice, of Fétis, who says Jerome Amati was the inferior of the two.
9(b) Much remains to be written on the violas bearing the names of Antonius and Hieronymus Amati. Messrs. Sandys & Forster describe, in their History of the Violin, p. 106, the celebrated Radetti or Kidd instrument of 1620. This viola came from the Radetti family of Venice into General Kidd's possession in 1793, and was given by him to the father of the late Sir Frederick Gore Ouseley. From Sir Frederick Gore Ouseley it passed, about 1860, into the hands of Mr. W. L. Adye, and then to the late Mr. Richard Blagrove. It subsequently became part of the Adam Collection, and was exhibited at South Kensington in 1872, being ultimately sold to Mr. Laurie, of Glasgow. Mr. Wm. Croall possesses a fine violin, by the brothers Amati, of 1627, and a violoncello of 1595, formerly the property of Kreutzer. Mr. G. Donaldson has a curious violin of 1590.
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