Bartolomeo Cristofori

Bartolomeo Cristofori (4 May 1655, Padua — 27 January 1731, Florence) was an Italian inventor and maker of keyboard stringed instruments, such as harpsichords, clavichords, spinets, and early fortepianos. During the 18th century, Cristofori's name was largely forgotten and overlooked, with a consensus among experts that the fortepiano's mechanical action was developed by German maker Gottfried Silbermann (1683—1753). Eventually, however, musicologists and art historians established Cristofori's pioneering role in the invention of the modern piano. Name variations: Bartholomæus de Christophoris, Cristofali, Christofori, Cristofani, "il Burtulo."

Little is known about Cristofori's youth and early life in Padua, except for the birthdate confirmed by baptismal records. Many 19th-century scholars propagated the myth that Bartolomeo studied luthiery in Cremona under the renowned [url=/artist/7534119]Niccolò Amati[/url] (1596—1684), based on the 1680 census in the Cremonese parish archives, which listed one "Christofaro Bartolomei, 13y.o." among Casa Amati residents. (Ironically, the earliest author who mentioned this coincidence, Italian musicologist Giovanni De Piccolellis (1839—1928), in his 1855 treatise Liutai Antichi e Moderni, diligently noted that Bartolomeo, born in 1655, couldn't have possibly been thirteen. However, his anecdote triggered countless other authors, who either oversaw this glaring inconsistency, or, more likely, were wilfully ignorant and couldn't resist the temptation to draw the connection between the iconic harpsichord-maker and the Cremonese luthiery patriarch.) Apart from obviously conflicting dates, this Amati's household 1680 census, as Stewart Pollens pointed out in his 1995 book, The Early Pianoforte, followed a conventional "Name-Surname" pattern; thus, it actually read Christopher Bartholomew, not "Christofaro, Bartolomei," and the said teenager wasn't even Cristofori's namesake.

In 1688, when Bartolomeo was in his early thirties, he relocated to Florence at the behest of the ​​Grand Prince of Tuscany, Ferdinando De' Medici (1663—1713), a renowned patron of music arts. Cristofori settled in the Tuscany capital as a full-time stipendiary at the Medici court, with housing provided and all expenses covered. (Most likely, such a privileged position explains why Bartolomeo wasn't a member of Università di Por San Piero e dei Fabbricanti guild, where most other Florentinian instrument-makers registered.) He was responsible for tuning and maintaining harpsichords and other instruments, working alongside over 100 artisans at [url=https://discogs.com/label/1026232]Galleria dei Lavori[/url]. Cristofori also restored numerous antique harpsichords by Girolamo Zenti and other makers from the Medici's extensive collection. Around 1690, Bartolomeo Cristofori established his private workshop on Canto degli Alberti in the parish of San Remigio, working alongside Giovanni Ferrini (1698—1758) and a few other assistants. He created many unusual and novel instruments, including an "oval spinet" (virginal with longer strings in the middle of the case), a "spinnetone da orchestra" (multi-choired spinet disposed 1×8'/1×4' for theatrical use), and "cembalo rito in piedi," an upright harpsichord. The earliest mention of Cristofori's hammer action, which subsequently led to the fortepiano's creation, is dated 1700 when Medici's inventory listed one of his new instruments as Arpicimbalo di Bartolomeo Cristofori di nuova inventione, che fa' il piano, e il forte ("Newly invented harpsichord by Bartolomeo Cristofori, which makes the piano and the forte").

Cristofori's alleged involvement in luthiery
A handful of extant instruments continue to fuel a longstanding dispute, suggesting that Bartolomeo could've been engaged in violin-making or at least signed a few decks made by a different luthier, possibly one of his assistants. German expert Florian Leonhard (b. 1963) even mentioned a specific candidate in his 2022 book The Makers of Tuscany — Rocco Domenico Doni (fl. ca.1690—1725), a luthier employed at the Medici court at the same time as Bartolomeo. However, no definitive evidence to confirm or establish the nature of their purported collaboration is known yet.

➽ ❌ 1717 contrabass at the Metropolitan Museum Of Art in New York, USA (Inventory number: 1980.112). Not on display, listed as "Former Attribution" with non-authentic label: Io Bartolomeo Cristofari | Fecit in Firenze | .. . 17?7 — as pointed out by Stewart Pollens, the awkward phrasing "I, Bartolomeo" was undoubtedly copied from the maker's bills and legal documents from Medici court (published and cited in the literature as early as 1876); presumably, some unscrupulous violin-dealer or luthier copied the wording verbatim on their faux label. Crude 3-string bass, bearing no resemblance to any other documented or preserved contrabasses attributed to Cristofori.

➽ ❌ 1715 contrabass in the collection of [url=/label/3673307]Conservatorio di Musica L. Cherubini[/url] in Florence, Italy (Inv. no: 1988/041). Unlabeled, handwritten ink signature inside the deck: Bartolomeo Cristofori in Firenze • 1715 • Primo. First mentioned in the Lorraine 1819 inventory, but never appeared in Medici-era documents. Unusually large instrument, modified in 1901 by Valentino de Zorzi (1837—1916), who remade the neck and added the fifth string.

➽ ❓1716 violoncello, last sold in October 2023 at Tarisio Auctions, London. Label from parchment paper (glued to the center joint of the inside): Bartolomeo Cristofori in Firenze 1716; effaced, deteriorated ink overwritten at a later date. Presumably, it was more eligible in previous decades, indicated as "original" by Alfred Ebsworth Hill (1862—1940) of W.E. Hill & Sons in 1937 and Charles Beare (1937—2025) in 1987. Described in thorough detail by Tarisio's founding director, luthier Jason Price (b. 1976) in his October 2023 article, this cello is "remarkably similar in wood choice, varnish, edgework, soundholes and heads, and ⟨…⟩ consistent enough to confirm that they were made by the same hand;" Price mentioned six purportedly Cristofori's instruments he knows, further claiming that refined and confident workmanship indicates all were made by a proficient master, not an amateur. This 1716 instrument was modeled after Antonio Stradivari's renowned 1960 'Medici' cello, also preserved in the Florence Conservatory's collection and displayed at [url=/label/3123706]Galleria dell'Accademia[/url]

➽ 🔶 1704/05 violin at Metropolitan Museum Of Art in Taiwan. Handwritten label (inside the soundbox): Bartholomeus de Cristoforis | Florentiae 1705 + Vincenzo Postiglione's repair label. Acquired from a private collector in 2012, appraised by reputable French-Italian expert, Eric Blot (b. 1955), according to the Chimei Museum's website. This most recent discovery, and the first-ever violin, was detailed by Alberto Giordano in his May 2013 article for Metropolitan Museum Of Art magazine. Most notably, the Latin phrasing on the label matches known Cristofori's signatures on his harpsichords and keyboard instruments: 'BARTHOLOMÆUS DE CHRISTOPHORIS PATAVINUS FACIEBAT FLORENTIAE' (with only minor difference, "e" instead of "æ") — unlike other stringed instruments, all carrying Italian inscriptions (according to [url=/artist/3116054]Stewart S. Pollens[/url], certainly non-authentic). The violin predates other instruments, all made circa 1715-17, by a full decade, and loosely follows the [url=/artist/7593741]Stainer[/url] outline. Dendrochronology analysis confirmed the age of the pine wood.