Antonio & Girolamo Amati

The "Amati Brothers" — Antonio Amati (ca.1537/40—1607) and Girolamo Amati (1561—1630), also known as "Antonius, & Hieronymus Fr.〈atelli〉 Amati," were Italian luthiers and makers of violins and other bowed string instruments from Cremona. Sons and apprentices of Andrea Amati (ca.1505—1577), they represented the second generation in the renowned dynasty of Italian violin-makers, hailed as early founders of the Cremonese school. Girolamo's son Nicolo Amati (1596—1684) carried on the tradition and truly solidified what became known as the "Amati style," or "canon" — principal outline and dimensions for each member of the violin quartet copied and used as a blueprint by several generations of Italian and European makers. Similar to their father, Antonio and Girolamo's biographies are still poorly researched, and early reference literature, like C. Stainer's Dictionary of Violin Makers (1890) and Willibald L.F. von Lütgendorff's Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher 〈…〉 (1904), gave much later dates of life along with countless erroneous claims. Curiously, George Hart directly admitted the lack of reliable evidence in his 1884 book, The Violin: Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators, but further reproduced several categorically incorrect facts, quoting Vincenzo Lancetti (1767—1851) and his 1819 Biographia Cremonese ossia Dizionario Storico. In the 1930s, Carlo Bonetti (1866—1951) reconstructed the first relatively accurate Amati family tree, based on exhaustive library research in Cremona's civil and diocesan archives. Particularly, he discovered maestro Antonio che fa i liuti ("maestro Antonio who makes lutes") in a June 1556 registry of San Faustino residents aged 16 to 50 with a weapons carry permit. In 16th-century Cremona, such registries served as military draft lists; thus, all males of age were required to join. The presence of only Antonio's name indicates he was already at least sixteen by mid-1556, while his father, Andrea, was already over 50. Later organological analysis of Andrea Amati's instruments only confirmed a much earlier involvement of Antonio and Girolamo with the family workshop. Antonio Amati (ca.1537/40 — 4 February 1607, Cremona) Andrea's firstborn son, Antonio, apprenticed at the family workshop; by the late 1550s, he was working at full capacity, undoubtedly involved in his father's massive commission for the French Royal Court between circa 1560 and 1574. After Andrea died in 1577, Antonio continued running the workshop jointly with his brother; they used luthier's labels reading "Brothers Antonio and Hieronymus Amati, sons of Andrea." In December 1588, Antonio sold his half of the family house, alongside the share in the business, to Girolamo Amati (who, evidently, continued using the joint branding). All early authors erroneously claimed that Antonio carried on the family venture, supposedly after Girolamo's death, and was still working as late as 1648. Eventually, though, Antonio Amati's obituary was discovered, reporting his burial at San Domenico church in the same St. Faustino and Giovita parish on 5th February 1607 and reading: essendo quei morto alla sprovvista hebbe solam〈en〉te l'olio santo. (Which means "died suddenly/unexpectedly, and only received the ‘holy oil,’" a reference to Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, or "Extreme Unction" — i.e., last rites intended for gravely-ill or someone in the danger of imminent death.) Combined with the lack of instruments attributed to Antonio as the individual maker, this evidence suggests that the senior Amati brother retired early and spent his last decades living quietly in Cremona.