Bartolomeo Cristofori

b. probably May 4, 1655, in Padua; d. Jan. 27, 1731. He settled in Florence in 1710. Was a maker of clavecins, but in the collection of musical instruments at Florence is a double-bass, quite possibly the only one he ever made, of which the workmanship leaves much to be desired; it is inscribed " Bartolommeo Cristofori, Firenze, 1715."