Andrea Amati and the birth of the violin 1505-2005
1st - 16th October - Museo Civico di Cremona

The origins of Italian violin making: rather like an obstacle course
Tracing the origins of violin-making has a lot in common with so-called minor sports; whilst great champions, highly-rated and envied for their stratospheric earnings are in the spotlight, far away from the limelight we find here a team of willing people who carry out a much more modest yet just as diligent activity.
It is in fact difficult to reconstruct the story of these craftsmen and their work because of a lack of documentary evidence and instruments that have not been tampered with.
This, however, has not prevented putting the puzzle together - on the contrary, even though some pieces are missing, the result presents a suggestive overview of the whole.
In this regard, a definite position was taken: the birth of the violin cannot be traced back to a single place or a single person. It is the result of work by many northern Italian craftsmen who, during the 1520s and 1530s, ingeniously modified the specifications of instruments already in existence. It may however come as a surprise to learn that, an initial role may have been played on the part of Sephardite Jews or forced converts who fled Spain after the great expulsion in 1492; and that the first instrument-making centres could be Naples, soon followed by Ferrara.
It is one thing to attribute the paternity of an invention, the foundation of an artisan tradition is quite another. In this case, the person who effectively began the great era of modern violin-making in Cremona is actually Andrea Amati. Some of his masterpieces are here on display, whilst at the very beginning one will encounter the fiddle ('violetta') of Saint Caterina de' Vigri (1413-63), the oldest surviving stringed instrument, for the first time in an exhibition.
Besides the organising authorities and members of the scientific Committee - in particular Fausto Cacciatori, Bruce Carlson, and Carlo Chiesa -, I would also like to thank the two main historic consultants, Ugo Ravasio and Rodolfo Baroncini. I have made ample use of their vast and generous expertise.

Renato Meucci


Exhibited instruments
Saint Catherine de’ Vigri’s fiddle, before 1463, Corpus Domini Convent, Bologna
Andrea Amati, small violin ca. 1570, private collection
Andrea Amati, violin 'Tullie House' , Tullie House Museum, Carlisle
Andrea Amati, violin 'Carlo IX' , City of Cremona
Viola by Andrea Amati, Cremona, ca. 1560 - National Music Museum, Vermillion (South Dakota), Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984;
Violoncello, 'The King', by Andrea Amati, Cremona, after 1538 , National Music Museum, Vermillion (South Dakota), Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984