Although there were earlier attempts to make stringed keyboard instruments with struck strings, most notably hammered dulcimers such as the Iranian instruments santur and santoor, the invention of the modern piano is credited to Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua, Italy, who was employed by Prince Ferdinand de Medici as the Keeper of the Instruments.
Square pianos were built in enormous numbers through the 1840s in Europe and the 1890s in America, and saw the most visible changes of any type of piano: the celebrated adamant framed over strung squares manufactured by Steinway & Sons were amassed than Grand Piano Covers two and a portion times the highness of Zumpe's wood framed instruments from a century before. Their overwhelming popularity was due to inexpensive construction and price, although their performance and tone were often limited by simple actions and closely spaced strings.