Guercino's 'rediscovered' music. The lost Chamber of Music in the papers of Padre Martini

From 7 November 2023 to 18 February 2024, the Museum of Music exhibits in Room 5 the five manuscript papers containing the 9 compositions of Musica a Cento, con Pitura by Guercino - [Copy, 1760?] The compositions were copied from Guercino's frescoes, now lost, that were in Casa Pannini (later Chiarelli) in Cento. The pieces of music were copied on commission from Francesco Algarotti, who visited the house in 1760, and sent to Father Giambattista Martini through Eustachio Zanotti. The music is framed by a frame that reproduces the fresco and the arrangement on the walls is indicated at the bottom; the pieces on paper 1v and 2r are incomplete as the frescoes were partly ruined by 1760. The title, on paper 5v, is in the hand of Giambattista Martini. The music is attributed to Giacomo Coma.