Museum of Musical Instruments

The Museum of Musical Instruments of Milan exhibits over 700 musical instruments from the fifteenth to twentieth centuries with particular attention to Lombard instruments. The collection contains plucked instruments, Lombard and Cremonese violins, hunting horns, numerous wood instruments (e.g. flutes, oboes, clarinets, English horns), bassoons, pianos and some ancient organs. In particular the Cremonese lutherie (from Cremona in low Lombardy) is appreciated all over the world for the high quality of its musical instruments. The museum also displays the equipment of the former Studio di fonologia musicale di Radio Milano.

In 2000 a donation by the Fondazione Antonio Monzino added 79 musical instruments, made between the 18th and 20th century, to the civic collection; they had been collected by the Monzino family. These musical instruments represent the strong tradition of Lombard lutherie.

The museum is situated in the Sforza Castle complex that also includes The Museum of Ancient Art, the Pinacotheca, the Applied Arts Collection and the Egyptian Museum (that includes the prehistoric sections of the Archaeological Museum of Milan).