The Violin Museum of Cremona is part of the Museo Civico. It consists of three sections, one of which highlights the models and instruments made by Antonio Stradivari, as well as the tools of his trade. The other sections of the exhibition show the art of instrument making (liuteria) in the city in general.
Violin Museum Cremona
Useful information
Address: Piazza Marconi 5 – 26100 Cremona (tel. +39 0372801801). Opening hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed: Monday. Entrance fee: 10 Euro; students and 65+: 7 Euro; children 0-6: Free.
History and description
The history of the Museo Stradivariano di Cremona began in 1893, when Giovanni Battista Cerani donated his collection of string instruments to the city. In the past, these instruments used to belong to famous liutai (makers of string instruments) like Antonio Stradivari.
Later, the instrument maker Giuseppe Fiorini gave the former collection of Count Ignazio Alessandro Cozio, including everything that remained from Stradivari’s workshop, to Cremona’s Museo Civico. The collection included all kinds of designs for instruments as well as the tools the master used.
The collections were first displayed in the Sala Stradivariana in the Palazzo Affaitati. After this, they were temporarily divided between the Palazzo d’Arte and the halls of the State Archives, before finding their current place in the 18th-century halls of the Museo Civico.
What to see
The exhibition consists of three parts. The first section highlights the construction of the classical Cremonese viola. The second section shows instruments that belonged to Italian makers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The last section shows the more than 700 objects from the two collections mentioned above.