Editing Amati (section)

===Andrea Amati===
{{main|Andrea Amati}}
'''Andrea Amati''' ({{circa|1505}}{{snd}}20 December 1577) designed and created the violin, viola and cello known as the "violin family". Based in [[Cremona, Italy]], he standardized the basic form, shape, size, materials and method of construction. Makers from nearby [[Brescia]] experimented, such as Gasparo da Salò, Micheli, Zanetto and Pellegrino, but it was Andrea Amati who gave the modern violin family their definitive profile.

A claim that Andrea Amati received the first order for a violin from Lorenzo de' Medici in 1555 is invalid as [[Lorenzo de' Medici]] died in 1492. A number of Andrea Amati's instruments survived for some time, dating between 1538 (Amati made the first Cello called "The King" in 1538) and 1574. The largest number of these are from 1560, a set for an entire orchestra of 38 ordered by [[Catherine De Medici|Catherine de Médicis]] the regent queen of France and bore hand painted royal French decorations in gold including the motto and coat of arms of her son [[Charles IX of France]]. Of these 38 instruments ordered, Amati created violins of two sizes, violas of two sizes and large-sized cellos. They were in use until the French revolution of 1789 and only 14 of these instruments survived. His work is marked by selection of the finest materials, great elegance in execution, soft clear amber, soft translucent varnish, and an in depth use of acoustic and geometrical principles in design.
<ref>Dilworth, John. [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/the-cambridge-companion-to-the-violin/the-violin-and-bow-origins-and-development/AB78262E05F225EFEBE993E73F432F6A "The Violin and Bow-Origins and Development."] ''[[Cambridge Companions to Music|The Cambridge Companion to the Violin]]''. Ed. Robin Stowell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. 1–29. {{doi|10.1017/CCOL9780521390330.002}}</ref>