Dear friends, we hope you are enjoying the first days of January in the company of your loved ones and in good spirits.

Once upon a time, at the early 20^th century, the winter holiday weeks were a time for meetings and dancing balls held in luxurious city mansions. Often, intricately decorated self-playing instruments similar to the Piano Melodico, to which the new issue of the ‘Exhibit in Detail’ column is dedicated, were playing at these events.

The instrument presented in the museum Collection exposition is a unique mechanism that plays melodies from cardboard folded cardboard book-music. The Piano Melodico is decorated with elegant carvings in the form of cherubs and muses – these mythological patrons of the arts seem to visualise harmony, accompanying every sound.
Following the sounds of Christmas hymns and Neapolitan melodies, you will be transported to a luxurious ball at the beginning of the 20^th century.