Description
The Diocesan Museum of La Spezia is a small museum of sacred art on Via del Prione, in the heart of the old town. It collects paintings, silverware and liturgical objects from the churches of the diocese, between the Gulf, the Riviera and the hinterland, and tells the religious history of the area.
It is housed in the old Oratory of San Bernardino, from the 15th century, where the medieval walls had the gate for those arriving from Genoa. Suppressed by the Napoleonic reforms, it was for a long time the seat of the Pubblica Assistenza before becoming a museum.
The diocese has a complicated history. Born in Luni, it moved to Sarzana in 1204, and only in 1929 came to La Spezia. That is why there are three diocesan museums, one for each seat: La Spezia, Sarzana and Brugnato.
The visit starts from the Carpenino room, with the large Triple Coronation of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, painted in 1539 by Antonio da Carpena, known as il Carpenino. Around it are stone finds from churches and oratories demolished to renew the city.
Beside it is a small Penitent Saint Jerome by the same painter. Of particular interest are the two Madonnas of the Pisan school, from Fabiano and Marinasco, and the processional banner of canvas painted on both sides by Carlo Braccesco.
Then there is the Madonna by Jacopo Spinolotto, from 1476, the first known painter from La Spezia. In 1974 someone stole it from the parish church of San Venerio. For over thirty years nothing was known of it, then in 2007 it was found, and in 2008 it came back here, where it can be seen again.
In the treasury room shine the Parisian chalice said to be Henry VIII's, owned by the parish of Sant'Andrea in Levanto, the reliquary of Saint John the Baptist by a Genoese silversmith, and the silverware of various parishes, from Biassa to Portovenere.
The Ciborium room has a precious wooden tabernacle from the parish of Monterosso and tells the story of the building of La Spezia's new cathedral, by the architects Libera and Galeazzi, up to 1974. There are Ligurian canvases, embroidered vestments and a wooden monstrance.
The museum wants to show, over time, ever-new works, to make known the riches that lie in the parishes or hidden in safes. It also hosts exhibitions by the city's artists on contemporary sacred art.
Don't miss
• The Carpenino's Triple Coronation.
• Spinolotto's Madonna.
• Henry VIII's chalice.
• The Ciborium of Monterosso.
Did you know?
• Spinolotto's Madonna came home on June 14, 2008, after the theft of 1974.
• In 1133 the diocese was deprived of part of its territory to create that of Brugnato.
It is housed in the old Oratory of San Bernardino, from the 15th century, where the medieval walls had the gate for those arriving from Genoa. Suppressed by the Napoleonic reforms, it was for a long time the seat of the Pubblica Assistenza before becoming a museum.
The diocese has a complicated history. Born in Luni, it moved to Sarzana in 1204, and only in 1929 came to La Spezia. That is why there are three diocesan museums, one for each seat: La Spezia, Sarzana and Brugnato.
The visit starts from the Carpenino room, with the large Triple Coronation of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, painted in 1539 by Antonio da Carpena, known as il Carpenino. Around it are stone finds from churches and oratories demolished to renew the city.
Beside it is a small Penitent Saint Jerome by the same painter. Of particular interest are the two Madonnas of the Pisan school, from Fabiano and Marinasco, and the processional banner of canvas painted on both sides by Carlo Braccesco.
Then there is the Madonna by Jacopo Spinolotto, from 1476, the first known painter from La Spezia. In 1974 someone stole it from the parish church of San Venerio. For over thirty years nothing was known of it, then in 2007 it was found, and in 2008 it came back here, where it can be seen again.
In the treasury room shine the Parisian chalice said to be Henry VIII's, owned by the parish of Sant'Andrea in Levanto, the reliquary of Saint John the Baptist by a Genoese silversmith, and the silverware of various parishes, from Biassa to Portovenere.
The Ciborium room has a precious wooden tabernacle from the parish of Monterosso and tells the story of the building of La Spezia's new cathedral, by the architects Libera and Galeazzi, up to 1974. There are Ligurian canvases, embroidered vestments and a wooden monstrance.
The museum wants to show, over time, ever-new works, to make known the riches that lie in the parishes or hidden in safes. It also hosts exhibitions by the city's artists on contemporary sacred art.
Don't miss
• The Carpenino's Triple Coronation.
• Spinolotto's Madonna.
• Henry VIII's chalice.
• The Ciborium of Monterosso.
Did you know?
• Spinolotto's Madonna came home on June 14, 2008, after the theft of 1974.
• In 1133 the diocese was deprived of part of its territory to create that of Brugnato.