The Palais Lascaris, a former 17th century aristocratic residence in Nice, has now become a museum of ancient musical instruments.
In the heart of Old Nice, it houses an impressive collection of about 500 instruments, making it the second largest collection of its kind in France, after the one at the Musée de la Musique in Paris..
This collection is mainly the result of the legacy of Antoine Gautier, a prominent citizen of Nice, granted to the city in his will on May 26, 1901.
Since then, the city of Nice has continued to enrich this collection, which is mainly made up of European musical instruments ranging from the Schnitzer saqueboute (Nuremberg, 1581) to the Grafton saxophone (London, c. 1960).
In the permanent exhibition, instruments made before 1800 are presented, in perfect harmony with the palace's setting: a rare set of baroque guitars (notably those of Voboam and Tesler), lutes, viols (including William Turner's, made in 1652 and often played in concert in the palace's salon) and Denner's extremely rare recorder.
In 2013, the Palais Lascaris was honored to receive, on loan from the Institut de France, the renowned collection of musical instruments assembled by Gisèle Tissier-Grandpierre, a celebrated harpist and friend of Gabriel Fauré.
Not to be missed...
Lascaris Palace
15, rue Droite (Old Nice)
06364 Nice cedex 4
Tel : 04 93 62 72 40
palais.lascaris@ville-nice.fr
https://www.nice.fr/fr/culture/musees-et-galeries/palais-lascaris-le-palais
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