Ignazio Alessandro Cozio, Count of Salabue

(1755 - 1840)

A Piedmontese nobleman and collector of bowed instruments, he is considered as the first great expert and researcher in violin making. He inherited from his father his passion for collecting. After he had left his military career in 1780, he started to devote himself to the administration of his family’s possessions.
Important was his relation with the violin maker Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, his main reference point for the study of musical instruments. His social status did not allow him to trade in musical instruments: for this reason, he had intermediaries, such as Giovanni Michele Anselmi of Briata. Through them, he bought from Paolo Stradivari, Antonio’s youngest son, several instruments and artefacts coming from the Stradivari workshop.
The Piedmontese nobleman is credited with the first technical studies on violin construction, a treatise on the history of violin making and precious information about a number of instruments made by the most important Cremonese makers.