Scan 132
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1884
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 78. See the scan on archive.org.
1Amati certainly improved even upon Girolamo's achievements, but he did not add more grace; and the essential difference between the instruments of the two is, that there is more vigour in the sound-hole of Niccolò than that of his father Girolamo.
3The purfling of the brothers Amati is very beautifully executed. The scrolls differ very much, and in the earlier instruments of these makers are of a type anterior to that of the bodies. Further, the varnish on the earlier specimens is deeper in colour than that found on the later ones, which have varnish of a beautiful orange tint, sparingly laid on, and throwing up the markings of the wood with much distinctness. The material used by these makers and the mode of cutting it also varies considerably. In some specimens we find that they used backs of slab-form; in others, backs worked whole; in others, backs divided into two segments. The belly-wood is in every case of the finest description. The tone is far more powerful than that of the instruments of Andrea, and this increase of sound is obtained without any sacrifice of the richness of the quality.
5AMATI, Niccolò, Cremona, born September 3rd, 1596, died April 12th, 1684. Son of Girolamo Amati and Maddalena Lattazini. It is gratifying in the notice of this famous Violin-maker to be able to identify the dates both of his birth and death.
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