English: Andrea Amati violin, found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This one is part of a group of seven Amati violins, all originally decorated with the lily of the house of Valois, a Latin motto, and a coat of arms. Except for a violin in Paris, the coat of arms –of Philip II of Spain— is worn off all the instruments. The motto was that of Catherine de’ Medici, queen of Henri II of France and mother of the future Charles IX: QUO UNICO PROPUGNACULO STAT STABITQUE RELIGIO (Religion is and shall always be the only fortress). The instruments may have been gifts to celebrate a royal marriage. In 1559 Elisabeth de Valois . . . was married to Philip II of Spain. The political union, part of the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, ended a sixty-year conflict between France and Spain . . . The violin may have been made as early as 1558 to celebrate this important union, making it one of the earliest violins in existence.