Alessandro dalla Valle di Mirabello

Alessandro Dalla Valle di Mirabello, also known as Dalla Valle di Pomaro, was born in Casale Monferrato in 1849. He entered the foreign ministry in 1873 and served in several European capitals as well as Washington. His family interests included the Cozio collection of stringed instruments and Stradivari workshop materials. ¹

In May 1883, acting as Italy’s representative in Washington, Dalla Valle protested the increase in the American tariff on imported art from 10 to 30 percent. He argued that discrimination between Italian and American artists conflicted with the spirit of the 1871 commercial treaty and asked the State Department to support congressional relief. Acting Secretary John Davis promised to bring the matter before Congress. Fava subsequently pursued the same representations. ²

After inheriting his father’s estate, Dalla Valle offered the Cozio collection to Mary Elizabeth Adams Brown, a major donor to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, through an intermediary in 1896. The offer listed instruments as well as workshop relics. He left diplomacy in 1898 and died in Turin in 1905. ¹