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Images from The Rawlins
Gallery
Viola by Andrea Amati, Cremona, ca. 1560
 
Note: Click on any major structural area of the instrument to see a close-up of that area.
NMM 3370. Viola by Andrea Amati, Cremona, ca. 1560. Ex colls.: C. B. Lutyens, Amwell Grove, England; Hope Hambourg; E. R. Voigt, London. Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984.
This rare viola is one of the best preserved of Andrea Amati's decorated instruments. It features gilt paintings of fleurs-de-lis and trefoils on its back, surrounding the monogram identified by Italian scholar Renato Meucci to be that of Marguerite de Valois-Angoulême. The Latin motto painted in gilt around the monogram, as well as around the ribs, is identical to that found on the Museum's Amati violin made at about the same time and may relate to the court of King Philip II of Spain. The loss of some of the mottoes' text, as well as other decorative elements painted on the back, clearly reveals that this instrument was reduced in both length and width from its original, large tenor dimensions.
Soundholes
Note: Click on image above to see a larger image of the soundholes.
This viola was one of seven instruments by Andrea Amati, including the Museum's King violoncello and violin, featured in an exhibition mounted for the Ente Triennale Internazionale degli Strumenti ad Arco at the Palazzo Comunale di Cremona, October 9-18, 1982. See: Andrea Mosconi and Laurence C. Witten, Capolavori di Andrea Amati (Cremona: Ente Triennale Internazionale degli Strumenti ad Arco, 1984), pp. 47-52 and 68.
Pegbox and Scroll Views
Note: Click on images above to see larger images of the pegbox.
Note: Click on images above to see larger images of the pegbox.
The scroll's volute was cut off and grafted onto a new pegbox and neck at some point, when the instrument was modernized.
Painting on Back of Viola
Note: Click on any painted area of the back to see a close-up of that area.
The gilt painting around the edges of the back of this viola features fleurs-de-lis and trefoils. Italian scholar Renato Meucci has proposed that the monogram on the back of the viola refers to Marguerite de Valois-Angoulême. Other scholars propose that the motto painted around the monogram, as well as on the ribs (below), relates this instrument to the court of King Philip II of Spain.
Motto Text on Bass Side of Viola
Note: Click on pegbox or the text painted on the bass ribs to see close-ups of those areas.
The letters on the bass side spell the words [Q]VO VNICO PROPVGNACVLO ("By means of this bulwark (or fortification or battlement) . . . " [text continues on treble ribs below]).
Motto Text on Treble Side of Viola
Note: Click on pegbox or the text painted on the treble ribs to see close-ups of those areas.
The letters on the treble side spell the words [S]TAT STABITQ[VE] RELIG[I]O, continuing the Latin motto that began on the bass ribs (see above), ". . . religion stands and will stand." This same Latin motto is found on the back of the viola, as well as on the Museum's Andrea Amati violin, and on another Andrea Amati violin at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
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Consult the Luthier's Library for detailed measurements and photos
Related Links
Individual Instruments
NMM 3351. Violoncello, The King, by Andrea Amati, Cremona, after 1538
NMM 3366. Violin by Andrea Amati, Cremona, ca. 1560
NMM 5260. Violin by Andrea Amati, Cremona, 1574
Comparative Views
Comparison of the Treble and Bass Sides of Four Andrea Amati instruments
Comparison of the Soundholes of Four Andrea Amati instruments
Comparison of the Pegbox/Scroll Views of Four Andrea Amati instruments
Checklists
Checklist of Bowed Stringed Instruments by Andrea Amati, Cremona
Checklist of Bowed
Stringed Instruments Made Before 1800
Checklist of 16th- and 17th-Century
Instruments
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The University of South Dakota
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