The Collegio Alberoni is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

seminary located on Via Emilia Parmense #77 in

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

, Italy. The complex also includes a prominent art gallery, Galleria Alberoni. Affiliated with the seminary are an seismic and astronomical observatory (founded 1870), a museum of natural sciences, a library, and the parish church of San Lazzaro e San Vincenzo De Paoli. The institution was endowed by the Cardinal

Giulio Alberoni Giulio Alberoni (21 May 1664 OS – 26 June NS 1752) was an Italian Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal and statesman in the service of Philip V of Spain. Early years He was born near Piacenza on May 21, 1664, probably at the village of Fiorenzuola ...

(1664-1742); construction began in 1732, and the seminary opened in 1751. In 1746, during the War of Austrian Succession, the structures of the time were nearly razed. It is now administered by the

Congregation of the Mission The Congregation of the Mission (), abbreviated CM and commonly called the Vincentians or Lazarists, is a Catholic Church, Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men founded by Vincent de Paul. It is associated with the Vin ...

, also known as Vicentines. The mission of the seminary as set forth by Alberoni was to provide for the subsidized education of the clerics for the diocese of Piacenza. Among its objectives were an "education in divinity", "virtuous orientation' for which the alumni should demonstrated ''docility, and a realistic capacity to work for the common good, respect for the property of the college, distance from secularism, and the capacity to disrobe the spirit of the word, and garner those of Christ.'' Admission was by contest. Studies lasted 8 years and included humanistic disciplines such as philosophy and morals. The institution rapidly adapted to an enlightened education, including scientific methods.Piacenza Musei website
.

Galleria Alberoni

The small art gallery, derived mainly from the collections of the Cardinal Alberoni. The exhibition space was refurbished and modernized in the 1960s by the architect Vittorio Gandolfi. The gallery is open on Sundays from 15:30 to 18:00 during October to June. Among the masterworks are: an ''Ecce Homo'' by

Antonello da Messina Antonello da Messina (; 1425–1430February 1479), properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio, but also called Antonello degli Antoni and Anglicized as Anthony of Messina, was an Italian painter from Messina, active during the Italian Early Ren ...

, a diptych by

Jan Provost Jan Provoost, or Jean Provost, or Jan Provost (1462/65 – January 1529) was a painter born in Mons. Provost was a prolific master who left his early workshop in Valenciennes to run two workshops, one in Bruges, where he was made a burgher in 149 ...

, and paintings by

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Early l ...

and

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian Baroque painter, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious works, but al ...

) (in the Cardinal's apartment); as well as

Giovanni Paolo Panini Giovanni Paolo, also known as Gian Paolo Panini or Pannini (17 June 1691 – 21 October 1765), was an Italian Baroque painter and architect who worked in Rome and is primarily known as one of the ''vedutisti'' ("view painters"). As a painter, Pani ...

; Giovanni Battista Lenardi;

Cristoforo Serra Cristoforo Serra (1600–1689) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Cesena. Born in Cesena, Serra is exceptional in that painting was not his full-time vocation, yet he was prolific. He was a militia captain in the Papal troops ...

; Domenico Maria Viani;

Sebastiano Conca Sebastiano Conca (8 January 1680 – 1 September 1764) was an Italian painter. Biography He was born at Gaeta, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, and apprenticed in Naples under Francesco Solimena. In 1706, along with his brother Giovanni, wh ...

; Sebastiano Martinez; and Italian genre artists. Among the latter are works by Bartolomeo Arbotori (1594–1676); Antonio Gianlisi junior (1677–1727); Marc’Antonio Rizzi (1648–1723); Ludovico Stern (1709–1777), Eberhart Keilhau (1624–1687); David de Coninck (1643–1701);

Gaspard Dughet Gaspard Dughet (15 June 1615 – 25 May 1675), also known as Gaspard Poussin, was a French painter born in Rome. Life Dughet was born in Rome, the son of a French pastry-cook and his Italian wife. He has always generally been considered as a Fr ...

(1615–1675);

Micco Spadaro Domenico Gargiulo called Micco Spadaro () was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, mainly active in Naples and known for his landscape painting, landscapes, genre art, genre scenes, and history paintings. Life Early life and education D ...

(1609/10-1675); and

Jacques Courtois Jacques Courtois () or Giacomo Cortese, called il Borgognone or le Bourguignon (12 ?December 162114 November 1676) was a County of Burgundy, Franche-Comtois–Italy, Italian Painting, painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He was mainly active in Ro ...

, also called il Borgognone (1621–1670). The collection displays 18 large tapestries, including two 16th century Flemish tapestries. Among them are works weaved by the studio of Michel Wauters of Antwerp circa 1670 based on sketches by

Giovanni Francesco Romanelli Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (Viterbo, 1610Baldinucci claims the date is May 14, 1617.– Viterbo, 1662) was a major Italian people, Italian painter of the Baroque period, celebrated for his use of bright, vivid colors and also for his clarity ...

and some from

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, circa 1650, perhaps Jan Leyniers, and apparently based on sketches by

Jacob Jordaens Jacques (Jacob) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678Jacques Jordaens
in the Netherlands Institute for Ar ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alberoni Museums in Piacenza Libraries in Piacenza Art museums and galleries in Emilia-Romagna Schools in Emilia-Romagna 1751 establishments in Italy