the model adopted by the rest of the Amatis and produced instruments capable of yielding greater power of tone. His pattern was unusually small, but he also made a wider model now known as the "Grand Amati", which have become his most sought-after violins. Of his pupils, the most famous were Antonio Stradivari and Andrea Guarneri, the first of the Guarneri family of violin makers. (There is much controversy regarding the apprenticeship of Antonio Stradivari. While the label on Stradivari's first known violin states that he was a pupil of Amati, the validity of his statement is questioned. Girolamo Amati (Hieronymus II) The last maker of the family was Nicolò's son, Girolamo Amati, known as Hieronymus II (February 26, 1649February 21, 1740). He improved the arching of his father's instruments. Extant Amati instruments Amati instruments include some of the oldest extant examples of the violin family, dating to as far back as the mid-16th century. , they are only occasionally played in public. United Kingdom Instruments in the UK include Andrea Amati violins from the set delivered to Charles IX of France in 1564. Amati instruments at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Andrea Amati Violin, 1564 (ex–French royal collection) Viola Amati instruments at the Royal Academy of Music Museum, London Amati instrument at the Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle Andrea Amati Violin, 1564 (ex French royal collection) United States Amati instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) Andrea Amati: Violin, Nicolò Amati: Violin, 1669 Amati instruments at the National Music Museum (University of South Dakota): Andrea Amati: "The King", circa 1545, the world's oldest extant cello Viola, 1560 Violin, 1560 Violin, 1574 Girolamo Amati: Double bass, 1680 Violin, 1604 Violin, 7/8-size, 1609 Violino piccolo, 1613 Nicolò Amati: Violin, 1628 In popular culture Patrick O'Brian's fictional British sea captain Jack Aubrey is described as owning a "fiddle far above his station, an Amati no less", in The Surgeon's Mate. In the Wine-Dark Sea, book fifteen of the series, Stephen Maturin now has a Girolamo Amati and Aubrey a Guarneri. In Satyajit Ray's short story Bosepukure Khoonkharapi, the fictional detective Feluda deduces that a character was murdered because he owned an Amati violin. In the manga and anime series Gunslinger Girl, Henrietta carries an Amati violin case. It contains a Fabrique Nationale P90 when on a mission, otherwise it contains a real violin. On the radio show, Yours Truly,