Page "Bartolomeo Cristofori" Paragraph 6

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, the many bills Cristofori submitted to his employer there are no records of bills submitted for Cristofori's pianofortes ...

This could mean that Cristofori was expected to turn over the fruits of his experimentation to the court.

" Lastly, the Prince was evidently fascinated with machines ( he collected over forty clocks, in addition to a great variety of elaborate musical instruments ), and would thus be naturally interested in the elaborate mechanical action that was at the core of Cristofori's work on the piano.