International Museum and Library of Music, Music museum and library in Palazzo Sanguinetti, Bologna, Italy
The International Museum and Library of Music is housed in Palazzo Sanguinetti, an 18th-century city palace in central Bologna, and brings together manuscripts, printed scores, musical instruments, and archival documents in one place. The rooms are decorated with frescoes that give the collections an unusual setting.
The collection grew from an archive built up in the second half of the 20th century and opened to the public as a museum in 2004, inside Palazzo Sanguinetti. The palace itself has a longer history and was already a notable Bologna residence long before the museum took shape within its walls.
The frescoed rooms inside Palazzo Sanguinetti show scenes from 18th-century musical life, giving a sense of how music was woven into the daily habits of wealthy Bolognese society. Walking through these rooms with painted concerts on the walls makes the historical instruments and scores feel very much in their original context.
Palazzo Sanguinetti sits in central Bologna and can be reached on foot from most of the city's main points of interest. The building is accessible for visitors with mobility needs, so all areas can be visited without difficulty.
Some of the frescoes inside Palazzo Sanguinetti depict recognizable musical instruments from the 18th century that are still present in the museum's collections, so visitors can compare the painted objects with the real ones. This direct link between decoration and collection is rarely found in a museum setting.
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