Agostino Sagredo (Venice 1798- Vigonovo 1871)
”I bequeath to the Museo Correr my home manuscripts, the pictures inside my rooms”. So Agostino Sagredo says in his will, written on April 3rd 1869, disposing the donation of his own art collection to the city of Venice. This noble Venetian’s choice is set in the wide 19th century phenomenon of the legacy of private collections to the city municipality, witnessing love for the past of the Serenissima and the strong bond with the city, preserving its artistic and cultural patrimony for the memory of posterity.
According to his age consuetude, being the last descendant of an ancient noble family, by his death on February 8th 1871 count Sagredo leaves his own art collection to the Museo Correr, formed by the 1830 testament legacy by Teodoro Correr. A heir of the noble Sagredo family, Agostino is born in Venice on November 29th from Giovanni Sagredo, from the ancient Santa Ternita branch, and Eleonora Elisabetta Renier, growing up, with his three brothers and two sisters, in the Santa Sofia Palace, where he started his literary studies. His life is marked by his passion for study and his homeland, to which he dedicates himself being charged by several cultural institutes and in the city administration: a municipal councillor from 1829 to 1831, a town councillor in the 40s and a member of the Venetian Commission for the Conservation of Monuments.