Girolamo II Amati
Cremona, c.1700

Girolamo II Amati (also known as Hieronymus) was the sole violin-making son of the legendary Nicolo Amati. He was born in 1649 when his father was 53 years old and being ably assisted in his workshop by Andrea Guarneri and others. Girolamo likely joined his father at the normal apprenticeship age of about 12 and assisted him until his father’s death in 1685. Thereafter, Girolamo took over the family workshop and began using his own name on instrument labels. Although he lived a long life, Girolamo’s independent career was tragically short as he was beset by mysterious obstacles that eventually left him “imbecilic”. Regardless, his relatively few violins faithfully follow his father’s models and approach the qualities of tone and workmanship that had prevailed in the Amati workshop for the previous three generations.

We are pleased to have this charming violin back in our collection, having sold it in 1992 to a distinguished and well known musician and teacher who used it until his retirement several years ago. We hope to place it with another deserving owner who will care for it as thoughtfully as it has been up to now.