Nicola Amati, Nicolò Amati or Nicolao Amati (, ; 3 September 1596 – 12 April 1684) was an Italian master luthier from Cremona, Italy. Amati is one of the most well-known luthiers from the Casa Amati (House of Amati). He was the teacher of illustrious Cremonese School luthiers such as Andrea Guarneri and Giovanni Battista Rogeri. While no clear documentation exists for their being apprentices in his shop, Amati may also have apprenticed Antonio Stradivari, Francesco Rugeri, and Jacob Stainer, as their work is heavily influenced by Amati.
Early life
Nicola Amati was the fifth son of Girolamo Amati (Hieronymus I, 1561; 1630) from his second wife, and the grandson of Andrea Amati. He was one of 12 children of Girolamo. Amati's mother, Laura de Lazzarini, also known as Laura de Medici de Lazzarini, was the daughter of Giovanni Francesco Guazzoni. They were distantly related to the Florentine Medici family.
The 1629–31 Italian plague affected northern and central Italy including Cremona. In 1630, the plague killed Amati's father, mother and two of his sisters. After his parents' death, he lived with his sister until his marriage.
Career
Apprenticeship
Nicola probably apprenticed with his father and uncle. By the 1620s, Nicola was the dominant luthier in the Amati workshop.
Amati style
Of all the Amati Family violins, those of Nicola are often considered most suitable for modern playing. As a young man his instruments closely followed the concepts of his father's, with a relatively small model and high arch rising nearly to a ridge in the centre of both the front and back of the instrument.
The Latin forms of the first names, Andreas, Antonius, Hieronymus, and Nicolaus, were generally used on the violin labels, and the family name was sometimes Latinized as Amatus.
Nicola Amati style
Beginning in 1630, he gradually began to show signs of originality, which by 1640 were expressed in what is now known as the "Grand Amati Pattern". This Grand Pattern was slightly larger (the backs being up to 35.6 cm (about 14 inches) long, and most notably, up to 20.9 cm (about 8 inches) wide, allowed a larger sound. Well curved, long-cornered, and strongly and cleanly purfled, these instruments represent perhaps the height of elegance in violin making, and were characterized by mathematically derived outlines and transparent amber-colored varnish. The Grand Amati style was the inspiration for other Cremonese makers such as Vincenzo Rugeri and early violins by Antonio Stradivari.
Distinguished apprentices
. Demand for musical instruments began to increase in the 1640s, causing him to be one of the first to take apprentices from outside his family into his workshop. Andrea Guarneri, who eventually founded the Guarneri Family of violin makers, was Amati's pupil.
Francesco Rugeri may have been a pupil of Nicola Amati, however, like Antonio Stradivari, census records also fail to mention his name in the census of the Amati household. The lack of census records showing the Rugeri name may be explained by the possibility of Francesco not being an indoor apprentice, but one who lived and boarded at his own home while apprenticing. Francesco occasionally inserted his labels in his instruments stating he was a pupil of Nicola Amati. For example, there exists a violin labelled "Francescus Rugerius Alumnus Nicolai Amati fecit Cremonæ 1663". Nicolò Amati was the godfather to Francesco's son, Giacinto, indicating that the two families at least shared a close relationship and close collaboration would seem likely.