But one violin wasn’t enough to back up the city’s claim. Sacconi suggested two Amatis: one by Andrea, the man credited with inventing the violin, and one by his grandson Nicolò, who taught a whole generation of great makers.
The price was far more than the city could pay. So Puerari reached out to everyone he knew: writers, journalists, music lovers. He launched a public appeal, “a lira for the Amati,” asking every Cremonese, and anyone else who cared, to chip in.
The violin cost twelve million lire. The appeal raised four million. On paper that fell short, and in the end Puerari brought the State in once more, and Cremona bought both instruments. But the money was never really the point. In the newspapers and even in the council papers, the message was the same: this was about bringing the whole city along.
And people did come along. Workers wrote in saying they could only give a little, but hoped those with more would give more. The local paper reported on four young boys who had just started a modern music group. They wrote that they still felt tied to classical music and wanted to do their bit too. This was support from the ground up, and it meant Puerari’s idea of Cremona as the home of the violin became the city’s own.
