Scan 131
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1884
6 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 77. See the scan on archive.org.
1the Brescian form, and the model which they at first adopted is higher than that of their later and better instruments.
3Although these makers placed their joint names in their Violins, it must not be supposed that each bore a proportionate part of the manufacture in every case; on the contrary there are but few instances were such association is made manifest. The style of each was quite distinct, and one was immeasurably superior to the other. Antonio deviated but little from the teaching of his father. The sound-holes even of his latest instruments partake of the Brescian type, and the model is the only particular in which it may be said that a step in advance is traceable; here he wisely adopted a flatter form. His work throughout, as regards finish, is excellent.
5Girolamo Amati possessed in a high degree the attributes of an artist. He was richly endowed with that rare power—originality. It is in his instruments that we discover the form of sound-hole which Niccolò Amati improved, and after him, the inimitable Stradivari perfected. Girolamo Amati ignored the pointed sound-hole and width in the middle portions observable in his predecessor's Violins, and designed a model of extremely elegant proportions. How graceful is the turn of the sound-hole at both the upper and lower sections! With what nicety and daintiness are the outer lines made to point to the shapely curve! Niccolò
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