Notes:

"First amongst these other gems I may mention a viola, dated 1619 ; the work of Antonius and Hieronymus Amati. It is one of the most beautiful things of its kind I have ever seen, and has a tone which is beyond my powers of description. It is in a very perfect state ; measures sixteen and a half inches in length, and has the flattish arching which appears in all the tenors by the Amati brothers which have come my way. The head of this tenor is a wonderful piece of cutting, and has none of the somewhat primitive appearance which characterises those on some of the instruments bearing the brothers' label, but which are supposed to be the work of Antonius, the elder brother."

The Harvey Collection of Bow Instruments, Towry Piper, The Strad, 1923, London

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"According to Messrs. Hill the specimen was undoubtedly originally in the set of Amati instruments at the Pitti Palace in Florence, which were made to the order of Cosimo de Medici. This assumption is confirmed by the brand—a ducal coronet with a circle underneath - which appears upon the shell of the scroll, and is very clearly defined in the photograph reproduced in the centre of our plate.

This particular Cosimo de Medici was the second bearing that Christian name, and died in 1621 at the early age of 30. He is chiefly remembered as the patron and protector of the great astronomer, Galileo, to whom he gave the appointment of Court Astronomer in the year 1610. The date on the label of the Harvey viola is 1619, so that, if this is correct, the instrument must have been completed only two years before the death of Cosimo."

A Viola by Antonius and Hieronymus Amati, Towry Piper, The Strad, 1924, London