Researching, interpreting, and exhibiting the cultural, material, and immaterial heritage with the participation of the community is one of the essential roles of a Museum. And even more so of a Civic Museum. Based on these principles, Palazzo Madama - Museum of Ancient Art in Turin dedicates a major exhibition to an extraordinary, yet still little-known, story of Piedmontese excellence.

On the occasion of the celebration of the 270th anniversary of the birth of Count Ignazio Alessandro Cozio di Salabue, the spaces of the Medieval Court host an exhibition organized in collaboration with the Il Salabue Association and curated by Giovanni Accorneroe and Duane Rosengard, aiming to promote and disseminate to the general public the figure of this unique Piedmontese protagonist, born in Casale Monferrato on March 14, 1755.

Count Cozio was the most important among collectors and enthusiasts of string instruments from the past, later establishing himself as the first scholar capable of understanding the value of Italian classical violin making - particularly that of Cremona - and the importance of the secrets of "knowing how to work with one's hands," a heritage that was already gradually disappearing at the time. Unlike other collectors of the time, driven by purely aesthetic principles, Cozio stood out for a conscious and systematic approach, inspired by criteria of historical and scientific research. The count did not simply collect valuable instruments: he investigated their origins, studied their construction characteristics, compared the lutherie schools, made observations on the techniques of the authors, contributing to the definition of a knowledge that somewhat anticipates modern organological approach.

The exhibition unfolds through the fascinating, adventurous, and in some ways incredibly "modern" biography of the noble and visionary collector, through the selection of 20 string instruments, including violins and violas of exceptional historical relevance, 12 of which belonged to Count Cozio and many of which are being exhibited to the public for the first time.