LONDON.- Sotheby’s London sale of Musical Instruments on Tuesday, 6 March, 2012 will offer a violin by Nicolò Amati, one of the greatest names in violin making history. Long considered the teacher of Stradivari, Nicolò was the grandson of the inventor of the violin, Andrea Amati, and was the leading violin maker in Italy from 1630 to 1684. This violin is made on his finest model, known as the ‘Grand Pattern’ and dates from 1682, the final years of his life, when he was assisted by his son Girolamo. The beautiful, regular grain of the alpine spruce of the front and the lustrous golden varnish are unmistakeable signs of its Cremonese heritage. It is estimated at £250,000-350,000. Cremona had become the undisputed centre of violin making in Europe by the turn of the seventeenth century. A new music aesthetic had emerged in Western Europe during the sixteenth century, and soloists were feted for displays of virtuosic br