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Scan 52
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
4 lines. Read by computer on 30 September 2026. Printed page 38. See the scan on archive.org.
1researches in the neighbourhood have brought to light a will, in which a certain "Onesta, uxor nobilis viri Amati de Amatis," &c., is a legatee; and other inquiries have resulted in the discovery of a coat of arms; but the fame of this family gains nothing from the nobility of their ancient lineage, resting entirely, as it does, on the noble work of their own hands, performed in the beautiful service of a peaceful art which is one of the most potent forces of civilisation.
3That which will, perhaps, more particularly strike the general reader while making himself acquainted with this subject is, that during the later portion of the Amati period, viz., from about 1650, a quite noticeable increase occurs in the number of makers, not only as to immediate pupils, but also as to followers. Hitherto we have had to deal with only a few individuals, chiefly of the same name and almost all in the same town; but, from the above date, quite a crop of names comes down to us of pupils and imitators, located, not only in Cremona and Brescia, but also in a number of other towns in Italy, convincingly indicating that this art-industry of violin making had taken a somewhat sudden and deep root in that country, probably about the end of the sixteenth century, when she had just arrived at a time of comparative peace, or, rather, when her hopes of peace were beginning to assume more solid proportions. Indeed, from about 1559 to 1625, Italy may be said to have enjoyed one of the happiest times she ever had, and the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the Dukes of Urbino, of Ferrara, of Mantua, and the Republic of Venice set themselves to repair the injuries which the long and various revolutions during sixty consecutive years had
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