Dictionary of Makers

Girolamo (or Hieronymus) Amati II, the eldest son of Nicolo Amati, is probably his most underestimated pupil. He studied with his father from an early age and took over the family workshop after Nicola's death in 1684. Al- though the workshop never again achieved the success or prolific production it had enjoyed under Nicolo, probably because of competition from the Stradivari and Guarneri shops, Girolamo was a gifted maker, as is shown by all of the instruments featured here. His archings tended to be fuller than those ofhis father, and his varnish less spectac- ular, but tonally his instruments stand up well to Nicola'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