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Images from The Rawlins
Gallery
The King Henry IV Violin by Antonio and Girolamo Amati, Cremona, ca. 1595
Note: Click on any structural area of the instrument to see a close-up of that area.
NMM 14470. Violin, The King Henry IV, by Antonio and Girolamo Amati, Cremona, ca. 1595. Ex colls.: King Henry IV, France; François de Bassompierre and family, France; King Louis XVIII, France; Jean-Baptiste Cartier, Paris; George Hart, London; Royal de Forest Hawley, Hartford, Connecticut; Albert Hastings Pitkin, Hartford; Lyon & Healy, Chicago; Edmund V. Bukolt, Stevens Point, Wisconsin; The Copernicus Cultural Foundation, Chicago. Purchase funds gift of Kevin Schieffer, Sioux Falls, 2010.
Listen to a live demonstration by Eunho Kim, USD Assistant Professor of Music and member of the Rawlins Trio, played The King Henry IV violin at the presentation ceremony held in the Arne B. Larson Concert Hall at the NMM on May 14, 2010.
Listen to Peter McGuire of the Minnesota Orchestra perform J. S. Bach's Partita No. 3 in E Major on The King Henry IV violin, on YouTube.
Views of the Scroll
Views of the Body
Note: Click on any area of the painting on the back of the violin to see a close-up of that area.
The violin bears painting which is remarkably similar in technique to that found on The King cello by Andrea Amati, painted for one of Henry IV’s predecessors, Charles IX. The original decoration on The King Henry IV, found on the sides, back, and scroll of the violin, is remarkable for its thick application of translucent blue and red pigment layered over gold, which lends a jewel-like quality to the central armorials and two flanking H's on the back. The armorials are an amalgam of significant noble devices, including the conjoined arms of France and Navarre, as well as the medallion of the Order of Saint-Michel, and the collar of the Order of Saint-Esprit.
Soundholes
Views of Painting on Ribs
Note: Click on any area of the ribs to see a close-up of that area.
The sides of the violin feature the gold-painted Latin motto HENRICUS • IV • DEI GRAT • FRANC ET • NAV • REX, which can be translated as "Henry, by the Grace of God, King of France and Navarre."
Literature:
"Amati Family Reunion Continues," Strings Trade: News and View of the Violin Business (June 2010).
Gary Ellenbolt, "A King's Violin: From Italy to South Dakota," All Things Considered, National Public Radio, July 7, 2010.
"National Music Museum Augments its Amati Collection: 'King Henry IV' Brothers Amati to Join Fine violins in Vermillion, South Dakota," The Strad website.
Sarah Deters Richardson and Jonathan Santa Maria Bouquet, "Medical Imaging Enables Staff to See the 'Whole' Picture," NMM Newsletter 37, No. 2 (August 2010).
Arian Sheets, "King Henry IV's Amati Violin Joins NMM's Crown Jewels," NMM Newsletter 37, No. 2 (August 2010).
Erin Shrader, "The French Connection—National Music Museum Receives the Rarest of Gifts," Strings 184 (August 2010): 68.
"The National Museum of Music [sic] Receives a Violin by Antonio and Girolamo Amati Bearing Armorials of King Henri IV of Navarre and France," France-Midwest Express Retrospective (August/September 2010).
"Violin Strings Together French Past and American Future," News from France: A Free Monthly Review of French News and Trends (Washington, DC: French Embassy Press and Communication Service) 10.07 (September 30, 2010): 8.
Andrew Dipper and Claire Givens, "Fit for A King," The Strad 121, No. 1446 (October 2010): 26-34.
David Lias, "400-year-old Violin Unveiled at National Music Museum," Vermillion Plain Talk (October 1, 2010).
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Technical Drawing of Amati Violin Available from Gift Shop
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Stringed Instruments Made Before 1800
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National Music Museum
The University of South Dakota
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD 57069
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