Seraphin (also Serafin, Serafino), Sanctus (Santo)

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Seraphin (also Serafin, Serafino), Sanctus (Santo)

Séraphin (also Serafin, Serafino ), Sanctus (Santo), celebrated Italian violin maker; b. Udine, Nov. 1, 1699; d. Venice, c. 1758. He was a pupil of Niccolo Amati, then settled in Venice about 1720; signed his name on the labels as “Sanctus Seraphinus Nicolai Amati Cremonensis Alumnus.” His instruments contained elements characteristic of Stainer and Niccolo Amati. His nephew Giorgio Séraphin (Serafino) (b. Venice, e. 1726; d. there, Jan. 25, 1775) worked in Venice in the first half of the 18th century.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire