This collection belonged to Pietro Correr (1821-before 1882), a Venetian nobleman, who had himself inherited the collection assembled at the end of the 17th century by the procurator of San Marco Contarini (1632-1689). As a promoter of the Italian irredentism, Pietro Correr sold a good part of his possessions for this cause and finally had to accept a job in the railway administration. He died anonymously.
His collection of instruments was put up for sale in the early 1870's. A few instruments were purchased by the Musée de la musique de Paris, but Victor-Charles Mahillon, the first curator...
This collection belonged to Pietro Correr (1821-before 1882), a Venetian nobleman, who had himself inherited the collection assembled at the end of the 17th century by the procurator of San Marco Contarini (1632-1689). As a promoter of the Italian irredentism, Pietro Correr sold a good part of his possessions for this cause and finally had to accept a job in the railway administration. He died anonymously.
His collection of instruments was put up for sale in the early 1870's. A few instruments were purchased by the Musée de la musique de Paris, but Victor-Charles Mahillon, the first curator of the Musée instrumental du Conservatoire (former MIM), had the opportunity to acquire most of them in 1886. Unfortunately, the authenticity of several pieces is doubtful. A comparison of the preserved instruments with catalogs of the collection from before Pietro Correr's death reveals distortions, suggesting that some of them were altered, probably shortly before 1886. Nevertheless, several pieces remain of great historical interest.
