Museo strumenti musicali e liuteria bresciana

Musical instrument museum in the 17th-century Palazzo Martinengo Cadivilla, with string, wind, mechanical and ethnic instruments, a luthier’s workshop and a music library.

Opening hoursFree admission

Directions

About the museum

The museum grew out of the passion of the collector and guitarist Virginio Cattaneo, who began by hanging on the walls the first instruments he gathered while teaching music. The collection, founded in 1956, had several locations in Brescia before settling in 1971 in the 17th-century Palazzo Martinengo Cadivilla, at Via Trieste 34, opposite the Università Cattolica.

The route is divided into four rooms: ethnic instruments, mechanical instruments, an auditorium with classical European instruments and a reconstruction of a luthier’s workshop, and a library. The core consists of bowed, plucked and plectrum instruments, to which wind instruments and musical machines are added, such as music boxes, barrel organs and cylinder pianos, as well as a rich collection of antiphonaries and sheet music.

The attached music library includes an antique collection, printed music mainly for classical guitar, microfilms, 78 rpm records and trade magazines. The museum is kept going by volunteers and friends of the founder and, according to the Touring Club Italiano, is one of the sites taking part in the “Aperti per Voi” programme in 2026.

Highlights

Bowed, plucked and wind instruments from Italy and abroad
Reconstructed luthier’s workshop
Mechanical instruments: music boxes, barrel organs and cylinder pianos
Ethnic instruments from various cultures
Music library with antique sheet music and antiphonaries

Permanent exhibition

Collezione di strumenti musicali e liuteria bresciana – Ethnic, mechanical and classical European instruments, a reconstructed luthier’s workshop and a music library.

Founded: 1956