During the spring of 1862, Gounod was taking a holiday in northern Italy, and on the evening of April 24 wandered alone by the picturesque shores of lake Nemi. He was attracted by the sound of far-off music floating on the stilly air, and, looking in the direction from whence it proceeded, saw an Italian peasant passing, singing his native melodies to the accompaniment of his guitar. Gounod's attention was immediately arrested, and so enchanted was he by the musical performance, that for some distance he unconsciously followed the singer, and then at length ventured to speak to him. Said the composer of the immortal Faust to an intimate friend: "I was so enraptured that I regretted I could not purchase the musician and his instrument complete; but this being an impossibility, I did the next best thing—I bought his guitar and resolved to play it as perfectly as he did." So great an impression did this incident make on Gounod, that upon returning to his hotel he immediately inscribed in ink on this guitar, "Nemi, 24 Aprile, 1862," in memory of the happy occasion. This inscription, written there by the master, may be seen placed on the unvarnished table just beneath the bridge.
The guitar is of Italian workmanship and still bears intact and perfect the original label of its maker, "Gaetano Vinaccia, Napoli, Rua Catalana, No. 46, 1834". It is constructed of native maple wood without figure, the back and sides being varnished golden yellow. The edges of the table were originally inlaid, but this decoration is now missing. The ebony bridge has been at some late period attached to the table very rudely by two rough screws, and the points of the bridge terminate with fanciful and delicately carved tracery in ebony, which is placed in relief over the lower part of the table. Its fingerboard shows signs of having been decorated also, and there remain but three of its pegs. It was damaged during the Siege of Paris (1870–71), when a Prussian artillery officer kicked it. Its body, head, neck and fingerboard got scorched by fire and its back was ripped off. A friend of Gounod's found it and put it in the Museum of the Paris Opera.[11]