"The violin is the best known of all Western orchestral instruments. The smallest in a family that includes the viola, 'cello, and double bass, the violin developed in the 16th Century and descended from the Medieval fiddle and rebec. All the members of the violin family have four strings, a tailpiece, a bridge, a waisted body, f-shaped sound holes and an arched top. The design has changed little since formalized by the great 16th Century Italian makers Stradivari and Guarneri."