Bartolomeo Cristofori is regarded as the inventor of which musical instrument?
Bartolomeo Cristofori falling out between Cristofori and Ferrini, but only Cristofori's moral obligation to his caretakers. The inventor died on January 27, 1731 at the age of 75. The total number of pianos built by Cristofori is unknown. Only three survive today, all dating from the 1720s. The three surviving instruments all bear essentially the same Latin inscription: ""BARTHOLOMAEVS DE CHRISTOPHORIS PATAVINUS INVENTOR FACIEBAT FLORENTIAE [date]"", where the date is rendered in Roman numerals. The meaning is ""Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua, inventor, made [this] in Florence in [date]."" The piano as built by Cristofori in the 1720s boasted almost all of the
Bartolomeo Cristofori Prince wanted to hire Cristofori not just as his technician, but specifically as an innovator in musical instruments. It would be surprising if Cristofori at age 33 had not already shown the inventiveness for which he later became famous. The evidence—all circumstantial—that Cristofori may have been hired as an inventor is as follows. According to Stewart Pollens, there were already a number of qualified individuals in Florence who could have filled the position; however, the Prince passed them over, and paid Cristofori a higher salary than his predecessor. Moreover, Pollens notes, "curiously, [among the many bills Cristofori submitted to his