The Civic Museums of Pavia (Musei Civici di Pavia) are a number of museums in Pavia, Lombardy, northern Italy. They are housed in the Castello Visconteo, or Visconti Castle, built in 1360 by Galeazzo II Visconti, soon after taking the city, a free city-state until then. The credited architect is Bartolino da Novara. The castle used to be the main residence of the Visconti family, while the political capital of the state was Milan. North of the castle a wide park was enclosed, also including the Certosa of Pavia, founded 1396 according to a vow of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, meant to be a sort of private chapel of the Visconti dynasty. The Battle of Pavia (1525), climax of the Italian Wars, took place inside the castle park.
The Civic Museums of Pavia include the Pinacoteca Malaspina, Museo Archeologico and Sala Longobarda, Sezioni Medioevale e Rinascimentale Quadreria dell’800 (Collezione Morone), Museo del Risorgimento, Museo Robecchi Bricchetti, and the Cripta di Sant’Eusebio.[1]
History
The museum was built by the will of the Marquis Luigi Malaspina di Sannazzaro, an enlightened artist (1754/1835), who donated his art collections to the municipality on his death. The collection, which over time was enriched by numerous donations, was initially housed in the Malaspina Palace and was moved to the castle only in 1951.[2][3]
The archaeological collection includes materials found by chance during agricultural or building works; the museum has come mainly from private collecting (Giuletti, Reale collection, etc.). The arcades on the ground floor of the castle house the Lapidarium made up of stelae, sarcophagi, funerary and votive altars, epigraphs, capitals, colonnems and Roman milestones.[4]
The first room is dedicated to the territory of Ticinum (this was the ancient name of Pavia) in Roman times and, among other finds, it exhibits a sepulchral area, made up of brick cremation tombs and a sepulchral stone, of the 1st century A.D. found in Casteggio. The room also houses the finds from the Celtic necropolis found in 1957 in Santa Cristina e Bissone, whose grave goods date back to the 2nd century B.C. they are characterized by the presence of stylistically traditional celtic objects combined with typically Roman products, such as black-glazed Ware. Not otherwise, the grave goods from the 1st century B.C. tomb found in Pavia it is at the same time Celtic (in the ceramics and brooches) and Roman (in the brick elements of the box and in the clay unguentarium). These are evidence of the progressive penetration of Roman culture into the Celtic Cisalpine world. Also from the same period dates back to a piece of great interest: a silver cup which on the rim bears an inscription formed by a Ligurian name followed by an indication of Roman weight measurements found near Zerbo in a group of "Gallo-Roman" tombs cremation and dated to the 2nd century B.C.[5]
The blue room with the Egyptian collection
In the second room is exhibited the Egyptian collection, donated by the Marquis Malaspina di Sannazzaro (who bought it from Giuseppe Nizzoli, chancellor of the Austrian consulate in Alexandria between 1818 and 1828), consisting of about 150 artifacts. The Egyptian collection is not the only section of the museum containing materials not coming from the Pavia area: we only remember the collection of Phoenician-Punic ceramics (rarely found in Italian museums outside Sardinia) left by Francesco Reale in 1892 or the collection of Italiot and Greek vases that came to the museum through 19th-century Pavese collectors.[6]
Some of the Roman glass
Also in the same room is the collection of Roman glass, probably the most important in northern Italy,[7] in which there are pieces of the highest quality and rarity, such as the dark blue glass kantharos from Frascarolo and the cup of Ennion.[8] the Roman glass in the museum stands out for its quality and typological variety. In the collection, ascribable in the majority of the pieces to the 1st and 2nd century AD, the most diverse processing techniques are testified
Next to the glass, there are some sculptures from the Roman age found in the city and in its territory, among which a Greek marble bust depicting Artemis Soteira of Cephisodotus the Elder, a Roman copy of the 1st-2nd century AD stands out. The III and IV rooms exhibit Roman remains found in Pavia: ceramics, bronzes, terra sigillata, fine table ceramics, other Roman glass and large architectural and sculptural finds, including the statue of a man with a toga, known as name of Muto from the hilt to the neck, dating back to the 1st-2nd century AD. and coming from the western gate of the city (Porta Marenga). Among the sculptures of the Roman age there is also a female portrait, in Greek marble representing a woman of mature age with deeply sunken eyes and hats gathered on the nape of the neck, evidence of the "cultured" sculpture of Pavia of the III century. Also from a sepulchral monument comes a marble stone with the image of Attis, dating back to the 1st century AD. There are Celtic finds from the La Tène period and glazed pottery from the 1st century AD, also in the shape of a bird.[9]
Always linked to the events of Pavia and its territory is the Longobard Room, where paleochristian silverware is exhibited (including a liturgical spoon, a bowl and a chalice knot found between the presbytery and the side aisle of the basilica of San Michele Maggiore in 1968), late Roman and Ostrogothic jewellery (including some notable stirrup fibulae) and finds from the Lombard period (including a rare Lombard age bronze statue representing a warrior), evidence of the importance and splendor of Pavia, then the capital of the kingdom. There are many finds of great interest (including historical ones) preserved: the front of a sarcophagus from the 2nd century AD. it contains an epigraph commemorating the work of the Gothic king Atalaric at the amphitheater of Pavia between 528 and 529. At the same time there is also a funerary epigraph in marble and written in Greek by a Syriac family, coming from the church of San Giovanni in Borgo and some fragments of tiles bearing the bishop Crispinus II (521- 541) stamp, proof of the presence of kilns in the city even after the end of the Roman world.[10]
In the room there is also the large marble tombstone, found in Villaregio in the nineteenth century, by the philosopher Severino Boethius (about 480 - 524 or 526[11]), and the tombstones of King Cunipert, his daughter Cuniperga, Queen Ragintruda and Duke Audoald. Witnesses of Lombard sculpture at the time of King Liutprand are the well-known plutei of Theodota,[12] which depict the tree of life between winged dragons and a chalice flanked by peacocks, and the fragment of pluteus with a lamb's head from the former Royal Palace of Corteolona, while always linked to the royal past of Pavia is the inscription of the sarcophagus of Queen Ada (wife of King Hugh of Italy, who died in 931 and buried in the church of San Gervasio and Protasio) and the sella plicatilis, a folding chair of Carolingian or Ottonian art in iron coated with silver and gilded copper, a rare specimen (very few European museums retain furnishings from that era and almost none of them reach the quality of the Pavia specimen) due to its technical complexity and refined decoration.[13]
The artistic and architectural evolution of the city is represented in the rooms ranging from the 7th to the 14th, where Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance sculptural and architectural finds are preserved, in particular the Romanesque section is probably one of the largest in northern Italy. Many of them come from buildings destroyed during the nineteenth century, such as those from the churches of Santa Maria del Popolo and Santo Stefano (from the twelfth century and demolished during the nineteenth century to make room for the Cathedral). In particular, the monumental portals of the two churches (room VIII and X), numerous capitals and a portion of the wall with white, green and blue glazed bricks from Santa Maria del Popolo (11th Century) are exhibited, among the oldest Italian (and European) examples of majolica.[14]
Glazed bricks from Santa Maria del Popolo, 11th century
Also from Santa Maria del Popolo also come some capitals (11th and 12th century) that reflect the decorations and the shape of the Corinthian capitals of the classical age and a capital represented and seven figures that hold the character in the center, while the last of the series respectively carry a cross and a knife.[15]
Capital of the Master of Dragons, 12th century.
The most important Romanesque sculptures are also kept in the tenth room: those from the church of San Giovanni in Borgo (also demolished in the nineteenth century to enlarge the garden of the Borromeo College), among which we remember a capital with dragons and telamon and a capital with dragons bitten by masks, the work of the so-called Master of Dragons, all dating back to the early decades of the 12th century.[16]
Capital with battle scene, first half of the 12th century
Of particular interest are the numerous dishes on display, all important products from the Islamic and Byzantine East, which adorned the facades of churches and buildings (many are still found on the facades of Romanesque churches in Pavia, so much so that Pavia, after Pisa and Rome is the Italian city that retains the largest number).[17] These were very expensive and valuable products and were made with techniques then unknown in the West.
Some of the Islamic dishes, 11th and 12th century
Also of oriental origin are other contemporary finds, such as an 11th-century Islamic coffin in embossed foil (coming from Dagestan) from the church of San Teodoro. Along with the sculptural finds, some Romanesque mosaics (12th century) from the churches of Santa Maria del Popolo, Sant'Invenzio and Santa Maria delle Stuoie (the wheel of the months) are preserved in the 11th room. The mosaics of Santa Maria del Popolo were found in successive phases in the demolitions of 1854 and 1936. The floor mosaic of the central nave adapts the theme of a large wheel included within a frame bordered by ribbon, herringbone and, laterally, with geometric motifs. The struggle between Faith and Discord is depicted in the larger band, as indicated by the Latin captions that still mark the wolf and the crow. The mosaic of the right aisle instead depicts scenes of the martyrdom of Saint Eustace and is also notable for the iconographic rarity (the saint's passion is depicted in the capitals of the church of Vezelay in Burgundy, in the cloister of Monreale, but this one in Pavia would be the only mosaic example).
The room of Romanesque mosaics, 11th and 12th century
Of particular interest is a homogeneous series of capitals in red Verona marble decorated with foliage and heads, of fine workmanship and expression of Lombard late Gothic sculpture (late 14th century). The perpetual demolitions and demolitions of the urban building fabric have given the museum an impressive number of architectural terracottas; therefore the individual pieces are indicative of their relevance to string courses, windows, portals and, according to the style requirements, to a renewal that the city experienced above all in the Visconti and Sforza age, when alongside the large public buildings and noble palaces, even the small owners came updating their homes to the new taste. Beyond the possible restitution of some context, the same quality is a significant datum of a paleo-industrial production that the documented existence of kilns, starting from the first half of the fourteenth century, can assign to Pavia. The tombstone of Ardengo Folperti (minister of Filippo Maria Visconti who died in 1430), attributed to Jacopino da Tradate and the funerary epigraph of Francesco da Brossano (grandson of Francis Petrarch who died at an early age in Pavia, also date back to the same period. who was buried in the church of San Zeno). In particular, the Folperti slab must have constituted the lid of the sarcophagus of a more complex monument, while the epigraph of Francesco da Brossano is characterized by the refinement of the Gothic characters, elegantly engraved and gilded, accompanying the importance of the poetic text, in elegiac couplets, dictated by Petrarch himself.[18] Rich is also the Renaissance Section which preserves works of art from the Certosa construction site (in particular many terracotta sculptures) and sculptural testimonies attributed to the school of Giovanni Antonio Amadeo and Cristoforo and Antonio Mantegazza, active in the decoration of the Certosa facade: including the panel with the Annunciation from the monastery of San Salvatore, with evident Bramante influences, and the aedicule with the Pietà, once stuck in the outer wall of the San Matteo Hospital[19] or the telamon bust attributed to Annibale Fontana.
The Museum of the Risorgimento was established by the municipality in 1885, initially thanks to the numerous bequests of citizens who, for various reasons, participated in the Risorgimento epic, and left documents, books, photographs, weapons and objects to the newborn museum. The museum itinerary is divided into three rooms: the first room covers the period from the years of Maria Theresa of Austria to the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, dedicating particular space to the social, economic and cultural life of Pavia, to the liveliness of the university, also collecting materials of previous age, such as a seal of the municipality of Pavia of the sixteenth century. The second room is entirely dedicated to the Cairoli family, while the third room exhibits weapons and uniforms (Austrian, Piedmontese and French) from the Risorgimento period and dedicates space to the figure of Garibaldi and Benedetto Cairoli.[20]
The museum also collects other collections, such as that of Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti, engineer and explorer from Pavia, who donated to the museum in 1926 numerous artifacts collected by him in Africa and that of Numismatics, formed above all thanks to important bequests, such as the collection of Camillo Brambilla, which has about 50,000 coins and covers a chronological period between the classical Greek issues and the minting of the modern period, with particular wealth for the sector relating to medieval and modern coins and coins issued by the Pavia mint.
In one room there is the rare wooden model of the Cathedral from 1497, the work of Giovanni Pietro Fugazza and Cristoforo Rocchi, one of the few Renaissance wooden models that have survived.[22]
The Pinacoteca Malaspina and the collections of paintings until 1800 include the following works:[23]
Pavia is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, 35 kilometres south of Milan on the lower Ticino near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom from 540 to 553, of the Kingdom of the Lombards from 572 to 774, of the Kingdom of Italy from 774 to 1024 and seat of the Visconti court from 1365 to 1413.
The Certosa di Pavia is a monastery and complex in Lombardy, Northern Italy, situated near a small town of the same name in the Province of Pavia, 8 km (5.0 mi) north of Pavia. Built in 1396–1495, it was once located on the border of a large hunting park belonging to the Visconti family of Milan, of which today only scattered parts remain. It is one of the largest monasteries in Italy.
San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro is a Catholic basilica of the Augustinians in Pavia, Italy, in the Lombardy region. Its name refers to the mosaics of gold leaf behind glass tesserae that decorate the ceiling of the apse. The plain exterior is of brick, with sandstone quoins and window framing. The paving of the church floor is now lower than the modern street level of Piazza San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, which lies before its façade.
The Visconti Castle of Bereguardo, Castello Visconteo of Bereguardo in Italian, is a medieval castle in Via Castello 2, Bereguardo, Province of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy.
Visconti Park was the private park of the Visconti and Sforza families, lords, and dukes of Milan. Located in Lombardy, northern Italy, it extended between the Pavia Castle and the Pavia Charterhouse. It covered an area of about 2,200 hectares (22 km2) and was encircled by walls about 25 kilometres (16 mi) in length. It was founded in 1360 by Galeazzo II Visconti and enlarged by his son Gian Galeazzo. Its decay began in 1525 with the damages inflicted during the Battle of Pavia. Today, the park's area mainly serves agriculture purposes, while some portions are nature reserves.
The Visconti Castle, or Castello Visconteo, is a castle in the town of Cusago near Milan, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It was built in the 14th century by Bernabò Visconti and used as a hunting lodge by him and other Visconti family members. The castle underwent significant changes in the Renaissance period; today, it is in neglected conditions.
The Visconti Castle of Binasco is a mediaeval castle located in Binasco, Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is famous for having been the prison and execution place of Beatrice di Tenda, arrested and there sentenced to death for adultery in 1418. Today it is the seat of the Municipality of Binasco.
The Visconti Castle of Voghera is a Medieval castle in Voghera, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It was built in the 14th century by the Visconti, lords and dukes of Milan.
The Visconti Castle of Jerago is a castle of Middle Age origin located in Jerago, Lombardy, Northern Italy. Having been a property of members of the Visconti house between the 13th and 18th centuries, it retains still today their memory in its name.
The Visconti Castle of Pavia is a medieval castle in Pavia, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It was built after 1360 in a few years by Galeazzo II Visconti, Lord of Milan, and used as a sovereign residence by him and his son Gian Galeazzo, first duke of Milan. Its wide dimensions induced Petrarch, who visited Pavia in the fall of 1365, to call it "an enormous palace in the citadel, a truly remarkable and costly structure". Adjacent to the castle, the Visconti created a vast walled park that reached the Certosa di Pavia, a Carthusian monastery founded in 1396 by the Visconti as well and located about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the north.
The church of San Francesco of Assisi is a Catholic religious building in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy.
The church of Sant'Eusebio was a church of Pavia, of which today only the crypt remains. The church was probably built by the Lombard king Rothari (636-652) as the city's Arian cathedral. It later became the fulcrum of the conversion to Catholicism of the Lombards initiated by Theodolinda and the monks of San Colombano and which later received, precisely in Pavia, a great impulse from King Aripert I (653-661) and from Bishop Anastasius.
The church of San Giovanni Domnarum is one of the oldest in Pavia. In the crypt, which was rediscovered after centuries in 1914, remains of frescoes are visible.
The Basilica of Santissimo Salvatore is a Roman Catholic church in Pavia, region of Lombardy, Italy. It was founded in 657 by the Lombard king Aripert I and became a mausoleum for many of the Lombard kings.
The monastery of San Felice was one of the main female Benedictine monasteries of Pavia; founded since the Lombard period, it was suppressed in the 18th century.Part of the church and the crypt survive from the original Lombard complex.
The Broletto or Broletto Palace of Pavia, Italy has for centuries housed the civic government offices of this city found in the region of Lombardy, Italy. The term Broletto refers to a buildings equivalent to the town hall or town assembly.
The church of San Marino is a Catholic church in Pavia, in Lombardy.
The Old Campus of the University of Pavia is a complex located in Pavia, in Lombardy, home to the rectorate and some university faculties and the University History Museum of the University of Pavia.
The monastery of Santa Maria Teodote, also known as Santa Maria della Pusterla, was one of the oldest and most important female monasteries in Pavia, Lombardy, now Italy. Founded in the seventh century, it stood in the place where the diocesan seminary is located and was suppressed in the eighteenth century.
The church Santa Maria Gualtieri is a deconsecrated church in Pavia now used for exhibitions, concerts and conferences.
Musei civici di Pavia: Pavia longobarda e capitale di regno: secoli VI- X, a cura di Saverio Lomartire, Davide Tolomelli, Milano, Skira, 2017.
Pavia visconteo-sforzesca: il Castello, la città, la Certosa, a cura di Davide Tolomelli, Milano, Skira, 2016.
La Pinacoteca Malaspina, a cura di Susanna Zatti, Milano, Skira, 2011.
La collezione di impronte glittiche del marchese Luigi Malaspina di Sannazzaro: Musei civici di Pavia, Sezione arti minori, a cura di Carlamaria Tomaselli, Pisa, ETS, 2006.
Andrea Mantegna e l'incisione italiana del Rinascimento nelle collezioni dei Musei civici di Pavia: Pavia, Castello Visconteo, 15 novembre 2003-15 gennaio 2004, a cura di Saverio Lomartire, Corbetta, Il Guado, 2003.
La collezione Morone, a cura di Susanna Zatti, Milano, Skira, 2002.
La quadreria dell'Ottocento, a cura di Susanna Zatti, Milano, Skira, 2002.
Novella Vismara, Le collezioni numismatiche dei Civici Musei di Pavia, Como, Litografia New Press, 1994.
Claudia Maccabruni, I vetri romani dei Musei civici di Pavia: lettura di una collezione, Pavia, Ticinum, 1983.
Il castello visconteo di Pavia e i suoi musei: guida, a cura di Donata Vicini, Logos international, in collaborazione con il Comune di Pavia, Assessorato alla cultura, 1984.
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