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Spinett
Bartolomeo Cristofori
Florence
1693
Inv.-Nr. 53
Instrument with quills exhibited in Bartolomeo Cristofori
from the instrument collection Alessandro Kraus
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Photographer: Janos Stekovics
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An instrument maker of genius who delighted in experimenting, Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) was employed, along with other makers, at the court of the art-loving Medici family in Florence. Cristofori was fond of creating unusual shapes and technically refined innovations. The instrument here has both an unusual form (it looks something like a small ship) and an interesting inner mechanism that possesses characteristics of a harpsichord. (It is, for instance, double strung quite far into the bass register.) Only two models of this spinett are known to have existed. Both were built for Ferdinand de Medeci, the eldest son of Cosimo III. Only one of these two instruments--the spinett here--has survived. According to the original bill of sale, now in Florence's Office of Public Records, the spinett took 400 days to build. Cristofori himself worked on the instrument for a total of 270 days.
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