Andrea Amati
Andrea Amati (* 1505 in Cremona, † in December 1577 ibid ) was the ancestor of violin making in this northern Italian city, and the founder of the Amati dynasty. His workshop was by his sons Antonio (ca. 1535/40-1608 ) and Girolamo (ca. 1550/1555-1630 ), his grandson Nicola continued ( 1596-1684 ) and his great-grandson Girolamo II ( 1649-1740 ).
Life
About his life little is known. An earlier opinion, he came from a patrician family, whose origins can be traced back to Germany were up to 1097, should not apply; in any case his father was a certain Maestro Gottardo, so probably artisans. Is not sure where and what Andrea has learned. In 1526 he was already working as a " liuter " ( lute or violin maker) and lived in the family of Giovanni Liunardo Martinengo, but which in itself hardly likely to have practiced this craft, but apparently was a businessman. In 1539, as Amati long term rented a house in the city center, which he bought later, he was documented as a self-employed craftsman; 1576 is with him expressly by the instrument 's speech; he ran at that time the only violin-making workshop in Cremona. He should have married around 1530/35; Name and origin of his wife are not released. Two of his daughters married about 1552/56, his second son Girolamo married in 1574 and again in 1584, while the elder son Antonio apparently remained single. The adult expectant sons so worked with in the workshop, Antonio starting around 1555, Girolamo from around 1570th Andrea Amati Church of San Domenico was on 24 December 1577 in the ( no longer existing ) buried in the city center of Cremona, where there is now a small park is located.
Work
Andrea Amati did not invent the instruments of the violin family, but influences the onset of the 16th century in northern Italy, especially in Brescia development (eg Zanetto de Micheli ) prevail. He refined the design of stringed instruments with regard to wood choice, shape, curvature, Head ( screw ) and painting and adapted them for the use of instrumentalists such as in dimensions to better. Even with the use of an internal form, around which the Zargenkranz was built, he laid the foundation for the work of his descendants, and Cremonese violin-making of other families of the Guarneri Ruggeri, Stradivari, Bergonzi, inter alia, in the following 200 years.
After years of preparatory work were in autumn 2007 in Cremona " Andrea Amati Opera omnia " to see from all over the world: 21 yet known and widely recognized works of the master. There are 13 violins ( body length part 350-355 mm, mostly 340-345 mm ), 5 violas ( 395-471 mm ) and 3 cellos ( 740-756 mm). Not all are still belonging together in the essential parts; rather, replaced ceilings, frames and heads find also some instruments were reduced later. All come about from the last 20 years of life, Andrea Amati; but a clear temporal order could not be found.
Two instruments groups stand out: welfare through the Cremona musicians in Paris has emerged as relations of the Amati workshop for French royal court, ie Caterina de ' Medici, the mother of the then minor King Charles IX .. On the order from Paris gave Andrea Amati several instruments, the coat of arms of the King of France and more or less completely its motto Pietate ET IUSTITIA - or also: IUSTICIA - ( with piety and righteousness ) bear ( les violons du roi, not to be confused with Vingt- quatre Violons du Roy ). Some of them have survived. On the instruments of a second group we find all or part of the motto QUO UNICO PROPUGNACULO STAT STABITQUE RELIGIO ( By this bulwark alone is the religion and will exist ), on two of the emblem of Philip II, King of Spain and Lord of Cremona; his third wife was Elizabeth of Valois, sister of Charles IX. According to another interpretation of the instruments of the second group for Margherita of Valois Angouleme, Queen of Navarre were produced. She was a sister of Charles IX. The instruments of both groups still show traces of a thematically related to this ruling houses, ornamental painting, which seems to have been executed by the Cremonese artists.
Add the following public collections to find Andrea Amati instruments:
- Witten- Rawlins Collection. National Music Museum, The University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota, USA: 2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello
- Chi Mei Cultural Foundation & Chi -Mei Museum, Taiwan: 2 Violins
- The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford: 1 Violin, 1 tenor viola
- Tullie House Museum, Carlisle: Violin 1 (not on permanent display )
- Comune di Cremona, Cremona: 1 Violin
- Musée de la Musique, Paris: 1 Viola
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Violin 1
- Julius Berger ( cello ) plays an Andrea Amati cello attributed.