Jeff's Met Picks: Cristofori's piano et forte

Grand Piano, 1720

Made by Bartolomeo Cristofori (Italian, 1655–1731)

Florence, Italy

Various materials

One of four extant pianos in the world created by the very inventor of the piano (or pianoforte as it was known), Bartolomeo Cristofori. Without this, we would not have has Bach or Mozart or Beethoven or Liszt, or Rachmaninoff or Debussey or ...