The Assisi Diocesan Museum, in the city of

Assisi Assisi (, also ; ; from ; Central Italian: ''Ascesi'') is a town and comune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Prope ...

, Italy, was founded in 1941 by bishop Giuseppe Placido Niccolini to preserve the most important works of art of the

Assisi Cathedral Assisi Cathedral ( or ''Cattedrale di San Rufino di Assisi''), dedicated to San Rufino (Rufinus of Assisi), is a major church in Assisi, Italy. This stately church in Umbrian Romanesque architecture, Romanesque style was the third church built ...

and of several oratories of Assisi's

confraternities A confraternity (; ) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most common among Catholics, L ...

. The museum is located underneath the piazza of the cathedral and has a collection consisting of about 300 works of which 100 are on display, exhibited in the museum's nine sections.

History

The museum was founded in 1941, by bishop Giuseppe Placido Nicolini. Its original location was on the ground floor of the parish office, and consisted of four rooms and an annex of historical archives. Entrance was through the cathedral itself and the museum could be visited only by appointment. In the 1990s bishop Sergio Goretti, in addition to encouraging the regular daily opening of the old exhibition spaces, began to consider a reorganization that would be more appropriate for the museum's objects. This gave rise to the project of expanding and refurbishing the museum's space to make it more suitable to the collection. Following the reconstruction of the earthquake of 1997 and the Jubilee year the spaces underneath the ''palazzo dei canonici'', the cloister, and the crypt were restored. The final exhibition space, now on two floors, was finished and opened to the public on 15 April 2006. The museum now has two entrances, one still found in the cathedral itself (near the chapel of the Holy Eucharist) and a second in the piazza (at the entrance of the palazzo of the canons).

Exhibition spaces

Corridor

In the corridor are archeological displays of items found in the immediate area, including capitals sculpted in limestone, rediscovered in the crypt but originally from the cathedral, and datable to between the 8th and the 12th centuries. Among the items from the Roman era is the front of the

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

with ''Nikai Clipeofore and the libation rite'' dated to the 2nd century. FB_20160124_08_33_58_Saved_Picture

Master of St. Clare room

In the St. Clare room are detached frescoes attributed to the ''Master of Santa Chiara'', an anonymous artist of the 13th century that takes his name from an icon found in the Basilica of St. Clare in Assisi. Originally these frescoes decorated an area above today's chapel of the ''Madonna del Pianto ''which corresponds to the old left apse of the cathedral that was separated from the rest of the church with the modifications of

Galeazzo Alessi Galeazzo Alessi (1512 – 30 December 1572) was an Italian architect from Perugia, known throughout Europe for his distinctive style based on his enthusiasm for ancient architecture. He studied drawing for civil and military architecture under th ...

in the 16th century.

Nicolò Alunno room

This room has the

polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Some definitions restrict "polyptych" to works with more than three sections: a diptych is ...

of San Rufino (1462) by Foligno artist Nicolò di Liberatore (also known as l'Alunno). In the

predella In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...

are scenes of the martyrdom of San Rufino, the patron of the city of Assisi, including the miraculous finding of his body and its transfer into the walls of the city. Also in this area are two predellas by

Dono Doni Dono Doni, also known as Adone Doni or Dono dei Doni (1505-1575) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period active mainly in Umbria. Biography Doni was born at Assisi. While Luigi Lanzi, Lanzi and others claim he was a disciple of Pietro ...

(1563) as well as sacred vessels and liturgical vestments from the 17th through the 19th centuries.

Crypt of San Rufino

The Romanesque crypt of San Rufino (11th century) is divided into three naves with an apse and has vaulted arches supported by columns resting on arches. The symbols of the

four evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

are carved into the vaults and are dated to the middle of the 11th century. Inside the crypt is a Roman sarcophagus from the beginning of the third century depicting the myth of Selene and Endimone in which the body of San Rufino was originally placed. Also visible in the crypt is part of a Roman wall in

opus quadratum ''Opus quadratum'' ("squared work") is an ancient Roman construction technique, in which squared blocks of stone of the same height were set in parallel courses, most often without the use of Mortar (masonry), mortar. The Latin author Vitruvius d ...

, that was rediscovered underneath the cathedral. The crypt is one of the places that

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...

went to pray when preaching in the cathedral. Cripta_XI_secolo

Cloister

The

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

(11th century) is surrounded by old portico with arches and capitals, and has at its center a well from the Roman era, known as the ''pozzo della Mensa''.

Diocesan room

This room houses objects from the churches and monuments of the diocesan territory. Of special interest is the work of

Matteo da Gualdo Matteo da Gualdo or Matteo di Pietro di Ser Bernardo (Gualdo Tadino, circa 1435-1440 - 1507) was an Italian painter, active in Gualdo Tadino, Nocera Umbra, and Assisi. Biography He likely trained under the painter from Foligno, Bartolomeo di T ...

Confraternity room

This room contains objects from the oratories of the confraternities of Assisi and a few processional banners, the oldest of which dates to 1378 and belonged to the Confraternity of St. Francis of the Stigmata. The frescoes in this room recount the story of Christ's passion, and were removed from the oratory of the ''Confraternity of San Rufinuccio'' and were painted by

Puccio Capanna Puccio Capanna was an Italian painter of the first half of the 14th century, who lived and worked in Assisi, Umbria, Italy between 1341 and 1347. He is also called ''Puccio Campana''. Capanna was originally a Florentine. Vasari described him as ...

and Pace di Bartolo. Of particular historical interest is the banner painted by

Orazio Riminaldi ''Selfportrait'', Uffizi Orazio Riminaldi (5 September 1593 – 19 December 1630) was an Italian painter who painted mainly history subjects in a Caravaggist style. Biography Riminaldi was born and died in Pisa. He was in Pisa first a pupil of ...

(1593-1630) for the ''Confraternity of Santa Caterina'' that depicts on one side the martyrdom of St. Catherine and on the other side the figures of St. James and St. Anthony the Abbot.

Engraved stone tablets

This section contains engraved tablets, including gravestones, discovered during the excavations surrounding the cathedral.

Sermei room

This room was inaugurated in 2014 and contains liturgical objects, silver smithery, and paintings attributed to the Umbrian painter

Cesare Sermei Cesare Sermei (Città della Pieve, – Assisi, 1668) was an Italian painter. Son of painter Fernando Sermei, he learned to paint in the workshop of Cesare Nebbia, primarily moving between Orvieto and Rome. In 1608 Sermei established himself i ...

. Among the works conserved here is the silver bust reliquary of San Rufino made by Paolo Spagna, and the large, recently restored painting by Sermei of St Francis blessing the city of Assisi at his death.

Perkins room

This room displays works donated to the Diocese of Assisi by the American art collector Frederick Mason Perkins,{{cite web, url=http://www.dictionaryofarthistorians.org/perkinsf.htm, title=Cenni biografici in lingua inglese su] Frederick Mason Perkins], publisher= who lived for many years in Assisi and died there in 1955. Exhibited are 32 works of Italian artists including: a ''Madonna'' attributed to the circle of

Francesco di Giorgio Martini Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439–1501) was an Italian architect, engineer, painter, sculptor, and writer. As a painter, he belonged to the Sienese School. He was considered a visionary architectural theorist—in Nikolaus Pevsner's terms ...

, a wooden sculpture attributed by some critics to

Jacopo della Quercia Jacopo della Quercia (, ; 20 October 1438), also known as Jacopo di Pietro d'Agnolo di Guarnieri, was an Italian sculptor of the Early Renaissance, a contemporary of Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and Donatello. Biography Jacopo della Quercia takes hi ...

, and 14th century Dormitio Virginis attributed to

Jacopo Avanzi Jacopo d'Avanzi (after 1350s – 1416) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period. He is also known as ''Jacopo Avanzi'' or ''Jacopo de Avanzi'', although apparently often confused with other artists, including ''Jacopo de' Bavozi'' and the ...

which was stolen by Nazi soldiers from Perkin's villa in Sassoforte a Lastra a Signa and was recovered by the carabinieri and returned to the museum in 2015.

Note

External links

Official website in Italian
Religious museums in Italy