fully examined, it will appear that
the only maker to whose style it can be said to bear any resemblance
is Gasparo da Salo, and it is possible that the great Brescian may
have instructed him in his art. It is unfortunate that there are no
data for our guidance in the matter. These men often, like their
brothers in Art, the painters of olden times, began to live when they
were dead, and their history thus passed without record. Andrea Amati
may possibly have been self-taught, but there is much in favour of the
view given above on this point. His early works are so Brescian in
character as to cause them to be numbered with the productions of that
school. For a general designation of the instruments of this maker the
following notes may suffice. The work is carefully executed. The model
is high, and, in consequence, lacks power of tone; but the Violins
possess a charming sweetness. The sound-hole is inelegant, has not the
decision of Gasparo da Salo, although belonging to his style, and is
usually broad. His varnish may be described as deep golden, of good
quality. His method of cutting his material was not uniform, but he
seems to have had a preference for cutting his backs in slab form,
according to the example set for the most part by the Brescian makers.
The sides were also made in a similar manner, the wood used being both
sycamore and that known to makers as pear-tree. The instruments of
Andrea Amati are now very scarce. Among the famous instruments of this
maker were twenty-four Violins (twelve large and twelve small
pattern), six Tenors, and eight Basses, made for Charles IX., which
were kept in the Chapel Royal, Versailles, until October, 1790, when
they disappeared. These were probably the finest instruments by Andrea
Amati. On the backs were painted the arms of France and other devices,
with the motto, _Pietate et Justitia_. In the "Archives Curieuses de
l'Histoire de France," one Nicolas Delinet, a member of the French
King's band, appears to have purchased in 1572 a Cremona Violin for
his Majesty, for which he paid about ten pounds--a large sum, it must
be confessed, when we think of its purchasing power in the sixteenth
century. Mr. Sandys, who cites this curious entry, rightly conjectures
it may have included incidental expenses. No mention is made of the
maker of the Violin in question; we find, however, that in the
collection of instruments which belonged to Sir William Curtis there
was a Violoncello havin