Description
The Museo Civico Amedeo Lia is La Spezia's art gallery, on Via del Prione in the pedestrian center: in the rooms of a 17th-century convent it displays the collection Amedeo Lia donated to the city, paintings from the 13th to the 18th century, bronzes, glass and miniatures.
On the first floor, in the small portrait room, there are three pictures to look for: Titian's Portrait of a Gentleman, a presumed Self-Portrait by Pontormo and a painting by Gentile Bellini, a few steps from one another.
Before them come the gold-ground panels of the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries: Pietro Lorenzetti, Bernardo Daddi, Lippo Memmi, Sassetta. With them are Vincenzo Foppa, Alvise Vivarini and Colantonio: a room of the very highest level.
The 17th century has a whole room of Caravaggesque painters. The 18th century is Venice: the views of Canaletto, Marieschi and Francesco Guardi and the vast skies of Bellotto.
The rest is worth the visit too. In the convent's old church, the first room, there are a painted wooden Madonna and Child, Umbrian, from the 13th century, and a gilded silver female bust from medieval Sicily, among ivories, Limoges enamels and crucifixes. The next room gathers the miniatures.
In the archaeology room, a yellow limestone head from the 5th century BC stands out, probably from the temple of Idalion, in Cyprus. On the second floor are the Renaissance bronzes, with Riccio, Antico and the workshop of Giambologna, then rock crystals, majolica and a very rare small bottle with gold bands from the imperial age.
The tour ends with 17th-century still lifes, including those by Fede Galizia. The most curious is the lute by Evaristo Baschenis, or his circle, in front of a sumptuous silk cloth.
The convent of the Minim friars of St. Francis of Paola was built from 1616. With the suppressions of 1798 it became a military and then a civilian hospital: to adapt it, the bell tower was demolished and the spaces were divided with walls and pillars.
From 1914 it was a barracks and a residence, then a magistrate's court and municipal offices. In the 1990s it was renovated to house the donation of Amedeo Lia and his family. The museum opened in December 1996.
Don't miss
• Titian's Portrait of a Gentleman.
• The gold-ground panels.
• The 18th-century views of Venice.
• The Cypriot limestone head.
Did you know?
• In 1980 the convent was set to become the city's "House of Culture", with the civic collections: then the Lia donation arrived and the plan was changed.
On the first floor, in the small portrait room, there are three pictures to look for: Titian's Portrait of a Gentleman, a presumed Self-Portrait by Pontormo and a painting by Gentile Bellini, a few steps from one another.
Before them come the gold-ground panels of the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries: Pietro Lorenzetti, Bernardo Daddi, Lippo Memmi, Sassetta. With them are Vincenzo Foppa, Alvise Vivarini and Colantonio: a room of the very highest level.
The 17th century has a whole room of Caravaggesque painters. The 18th century is Venice: the views of Canaletto, Marieschi and Francesco Guardi and the vast skies of Bellotto.
The rest is worth the visit too. In the convent's old church, the first room, there are a painted wooden Madonna and Child, Umbrian, from the 13th century, and a gilded silver female bust from medieval Sicily, among ivories, Limoges enamels and crucifixes. The next room gathers the miniatures.
In the archaeology room, a yellow limestone head from the 5th century BC stands out, probably from the temple of Idalion, in Cyprus. On the second floor are the Renaissance bronzes, with Riccio, Antico and the workshop of Giambologna, then rock crystals, majolica and a very rare small bottle with gold bands from the imperial age.
The tour ends with 17th-century still lifes, including those by Fede Galizia. The most curious is the lute by Evaristo Baschenis, or his circle, in front of a sumptuous silk cloth.
The convent of the Minim friars of St. Francis of Paola was built from 1616. With the suppressions of 1798 it became a military and then a civilian hospital: to adapt it, the bell tower was demolished and the spaces were divided with walls and pillars.
From 1914 it was a barracks and a residence, then a magistrate's court and municipal offices. In the 1990s it was renovated to house the donation of Amedeo Lia and his family. The museum opened in December 1996.
Don't miss
• Titian's Portrait of a Gentleman.
• The gold-ground panels.
• The 18th-century views of Venice.
• The Cypriot limestone head.
Did you know?
• In 1980 the convent was set to become the city's "House of Culture", with the civic collections: then the Lia donation arrived and the plan was changed.