Gaspare Spontini Museum

This cultural space is housed in the house that the composer and philanthropist Gaspare Spontini, born in Maiolati in 1774, had built with the intention of making it his residence upon his return to his hometown. Initially destined for religious life by his father's will, following in his brothers' footsteps, the young Spontini was sent by his paternal uncle Don Giuseppe Spontini to the church of Santa Maria del Piano in Jesi and later admitted to the seminary. However, impatient with ecclesiastical studies, he managed to devote himself to music, overcoming his father's opposition and completing his musical education. His career took him to European courts, from Napoleon's France to the Berlin of Frederick William III of Prussia. This cultural space is housed in the house that the composer and philanthropist Gaspare Spontini, born in Maiolati in 1774, had built with the intention of making it his residence upon his return to his hometown. Initially destined for religious life by his father's will, following in his brothers' footsteps, the young Spontini was sent by his paternal uncle Don Giuseppe Spontini to the church of Santa Maria del Piano in Jesi and later admitted to the seminary. However, impatient with ecclesiastical studies, he managed to devote himself to music, overcoming his father's opposition and completing his musical education. His career took him to European courts, from Napoleon's France to the Berlin of Frederick William III of Prussia. The building that houses the Museum is the house that the Spontini couple had built with the intention of making it their residence when they returned to Maiolati, which only happened in September 1850 and for a few months. The old rural building, bought by the composer in 1842 from the Valchera family, was refurbished The rooms on the second floor run along a corridor. The plastered walls and ceilings have vaulted ceilings decorated with floral and geometric motifs, while the floors are made of terracotta. These rooms, which once constituted the private area of the Spontini couple and contain valuable furnishings, offer an evocative reconstruction of the atmosphere of what might have been a wealthy aristocratic residence of the time. In addition, at the end of the corridor a door hides a small curiosity: an essential bathroom in the house, very rare in the residences of the period that usually had it outside. Among the rooms, the small study stands out, furnished with a few linear elements in line with neoclassical taste. There is a writing desk, leather armchairs and a wardrobe typical of the 19th century. Also preserved are two travel trunks that belonged to Spontini: the smaller one is French, as evidenced by the label of a Parisian factory.

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