Andrea Amati, earliest of the great Cremonese luthiers, has been credited with defining the violin's elegant form and setting the standard of superb craftsmanship that likewise characterizes the work of his followers, including two of his sons, his grandson Nicolò Amati, and Antonio Stradivari. The maker's label inside the body is a modern facsimile, but the violin's authenticity has never been seriously challenged, and its age has been confirmed by dendrochronology. Remnants of original varnish appear beneath later coats.

The maple back and sides are decorated with a Latin couplet of unknown origin: "Quo unico propugnaculo stat stabiq[ue] religio" (By this bulwark alone religion stands and will stand). Additional painted ornaments are mostly worn off, but the fleurs-de-lys suggest a French provenance. Similarly decorated instruments by Andrea Amati bear a motto associated with the court of Charles IX, whose mother, Catherine de Médicis, cultivated Italian music in France.

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