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Girolamo Amati II

Girolamo (or Hieronymus) Amati II, the eldest son of Nicolò Amati, is probably his most underestimated pupil. He studied with his father from an early age and took over the family workshop after Nicolò’s death in 1684. Although the workshop never again achieved the success or prolific production it had enjoyed under Nicolò,probably because of competition from the Stradivari and Guarneri shops, Girolamo was a gifted maker, as is shown by all of theinstruments featured here. His archings tended to be fuller than those of

his father, and his varnish less spectacular, but tonally his instruments stand up well to Nicolò’s work.

In 1697 Girolamo fell on hard times, possibly due to legal problems, and he left Cremona, moving to Piacenza. Eighteen years later he returned to the town of his birth and lived out the rest of his life there, but he seems to have given up violin making soon after his departure from Cremona, and instruments dated post-1700 are extremely rare. Sadly he had no pupils and the great violin making name of Amati died with him in 1740.

Girolamo Amati II

(Cremona, b 1649; d 1740)

Girolamo (or Hieronymus) Amati II, the eldest son of Nicolò Amati, is probably his most underestimated pupil. He studied with his father from an early age and took over the family workshop after Nicolò’s death in 1684. Although the workshop never again achieved the success or prolific production it had enjoyed under Nicolò,probably because of competition from the Stradivari and Guarneri shops, Girolamo was a gifted maker, as is shown by all of theinstruments featured here. His archings tended to be fuller than those of

his father, and his varnish less spectacular, but tonally his instruments stand up well to Nicolò’s work.

In 1697 Girolamo fell on hard times, possibly due to legal problems, and he left Cremona,... Read more

Instruments we have sold by this maker

Articles

Part V: The Question of ‘Italian Tone’

26 April 2021 - Dilworth, John

The Evolution of Violin Making from 16th-20th Century Part V

Part IV: Violin Making Outside Cremona

19 April 2021 - Dilworth, John

The Evolution of Violin Making from 16th-20th Century Part IV

Part III: Cremona’s Second Genius

19 April 2021 - Dilworth, John

The Evolution of Violin Making from 16th-20th Century Part III

Part II: The Amati Dynasty

12 April 2021 - Dilworth, John

The Evolution of Violin Making from 16th-20th Century Part II

Part I: The Origins of the Violin

12 April 2021 - Dilworth, John

The Evolution of Violin Making from 16th-20th Century Part I

‘Ex-Corbett; ex-Bennett’ Girolamo Amati II violin

16 October 2018 - Hebbert, Ben

  William Corbett came to prominence as a violinist and composer at the end of the 1690s, predominantly working at the theatre in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where he composed incidental music in 1700 for Betterton’s “Love Betrayed” and various other... Read more

Videos

The Ex-Corbett; ex-Bennett violin by Girolamo Amati II, Cremona, circa 1700

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