Violin by Nicolo Amati, Cremona, 1654, 'Brookings' (Library of Congress)

Nicolò Amati "Brookings" Violin

Violin · Italy

The 'Brookings' is a 1654 violin by the Cremonese master Nicolò Amati, held in the stringed-instrument collection of the Library of Congress. Acquired in Europe on the advice of the virtuoso Joseph Joachim and presented to the Library in 1938, it exemplifies Amati's refined model and golden-amber varnish. Nicolò Amati was the teacher of a generation of makers, and instruments like this one shaped the Cremonese tradition later carried forward by Stradivari.