At the center of the event, in room XII of the Pinacoteca, will be the extraordinary presence of the Andrea Amati violin “ Carlo IX ” (ca. 1566-1570) on loan from the Violin Museum of Cremona. The precious musical instrument will be set up in the room that usually hosts the works of Giacomo Ceruti, awaiting their return from the exhibition at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

The violin was part of a group of 26 instruments built for the French royal house. Having gone missing during the French Revolution, four were later found, including this one. The date of construction can be seen from the label of the luthier Lupot , still preserved inside, which indicates the year 1566, but more recent studies suggest that the exact year is more likely to be 1570. The following year, in fact, the marriage of Charles IX with Elizabeth of Austria was celebrated and this may have been the occasion of the commissioning.

Watching over this progenitor of Lombard violin making will be the patron saint of musicians, Santa Cecilia , whose feast day falls on November 22nd. In Room XII of the Tosio Martinengo Art Gallery, in fact, a painting owned by the Brescian Museums, the work of the painter from Ferrara, will be temporarily exhibited Gaspare Venturini and part of the legacy of Camillo Brozzoni (1863): a painting for private use, of great refinement and elegance , dating back to around 1590 and in which the Saint is depicted according to the iconography defined by Raphael in Bologna.