Museo diocesano di Lanciano

About

Museo diocesano di Lanciano (Italian for Diocesan Museum of Lanciano) is a museum of religious art in Lanciano, Province of Chieti (Abruzzo).

Opened to the public in 2002 by Monsignor Carlo Ghidelli, the museum is the result of meticulous research into ancient works, curated by Monsignor Enzio d'Antonio, at the archbishop's residence and various churches in Lanciano, some of which have been deconsecrated for centuries.

The museum is located inside the Palazzo del Seminario, a 17th-century building that houses the offices of the Curia, the Library, and the Diocesan Historical Archive. It is divided into nine rooms according to an innovative thematic arrangement and contains a notable collection of artworks, the result of painstaking restoration work, related to Christian worship and dating from the 13th to the 19th century.

The palace was built as the seat of the Frentana diocese in the 16th century (established in 1515, separating from that of Chieti), and housed the seminary until the 1960s. Today it is home to the Diocesan Museum of Lanciano. The construction likely began in 1590, the year the old episcopal residence at the Cathedral was abandoned to build the Hospital of Santa Maria della Sanità. The building has a complex layout resulting from the amalgamation of pre-existing houses. In 1819, the portal of the old Church of the Annunziata in Piazza Plebiscito, demolished by Eugenio Michitelli to create the neoclassical facade of the Cathedral, was mounted on the main facade. The 15th-century portal features a pointed arch, and the neo-Gothic elements of the facade (the windows) were created as part of a revival, while the second lateral portal is typically Baroque.

The facade has a three-level structure, plus an attic, defined by brick cornices that mark the imposts of the openings. On the ground floor, there are three portals, of which the lateral ones, with jambs and pointed arches in brick, are currently bricked up. The main entrance is in the center, featuring the 15th-century portal.

The palace has two entrances: the one on Via Garibaldi from the square, with a 14th-century portal, and the one on Via G. Finamore, in Baroque style with a broken pediment. In the atrium is the Chapel of San Gaetano, and via a flight of stairs, it is possible to access the first floor, which houses various offices, the second floor, home to the museum, and the third floor, with the bishop's offices, some Lanciano prelates, and the small seminary school, affiliated with the Pontifical Abruzzese-Molisano "San Pio X" Seminary in Chieti.

In 2018, restoration work began on the facade and some interior rooms at risk of rainwater infiltration.

Marian devotion is particularly strong among the people of Lanciano, as evidenced by countless ex-votos, paintings, and gold and precious stone jewelry donated to the Madonna del Ponte, the city's protector, all dating from the 17th to the 20th century. The first two rooms are dedicated to the veneration of the Madonna, containing, in addition to the ex-votos, wooden statues from the 14th and 15th centuries.

In approximately one thousand square meters of exhibition space, significant artifacts spanning centuries of the history of the Frentana Church are displayed: paintings, sculptures, goldsmithing, sacred vestments, ex-votos, wooden furnishings, embroideries, manuscripts, and precious bindings. These objects, dating from the 13th to the 20th centuries, primarily come from the Cathedral, various churches of the Diocese, and the Archbishop's Palace. The core of the collection is notably rich in goldsmith works, featuring masterpieces such as the 15th-century processional cross by Nicola da Guardiagrele and workshop, the almost contemporaneous pastoral staff of the Sulmonese school, and the pontifical jug, marked 1603, probably of Neapolitan manufacture.

The textile section is also significant: notable are the rich 19th-century liturgical vestments belonging to Archbishop Francesco Maria de' Luca, and the extraordinary large ensemble from the mid-18th century, painted in tempera and embroidered, donated by the same prelate to the Cathedral. Among the paintings, noteworthy are the early 16th-century Christ Carrying the Cross by a Giorgionesque painter, the Madonna and Child signed by Iacovo de Lanziano, an artist who likely stayed in 15th-century Venice, and the late 18th-century model by Giacinto Diana for the lost fresco decoration of the Cathedral's dome. Among the sculptures, significant pieces include a Madonna and Child of the late 13th - early 14th-century Abruzzese school, and another Madonna, also originally with the Divine Infant, attributed to an Abruzzese master of the early 15th century.

Room 1: Treasure of the Madonna del Ponte

The first room of the Diocesan Museum, located in the Archbishop's Palace (Largo dell'Appello), houses the economic and artistic heritage created in honor of the Virgin, transferred to the museum for safety reasons, especially after the damage to the cathedral caused by the Val di Comino earthquake in 1984. The core of the oldest jewels comprises pieces from the 17th-18th centuries of the Neapolitan school, followed by later works, such as the ex-voto paintings from the 19th century, created in honor of the Madonna to commemorate miraculous events.

The oldest jewel in the collection is a 1601 pendant in gilded silver, with a large rock crystal flanked by 4 rubies mounted en cabochon. The pendant was likely completed with some pearls, possibly a gift from the Marchioness of Ugni of Guardiagrele. Other examples of these objects are found in the work "Sant'Apollonia" by Francesco Maria Renzetti (mid-18th century), featuring two very similar elements adorning the chest and head. A more substantial number of 18th-century objects include bodice ornaments, three fine ruby ornaments mounted on a light arabesque lattice. A typically 18th-century jewel for fastening bodice laces: the pendant consists of a large bow or butterfly supporting a drop pendant, to which a third cruciform piece is suspended.

Another notable piece belongs to the treasure of Santa Maria Maggiore, while similar examples are also found in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection in London, with 15 elements of German craftsmanship. The emerald bodice clasp is the result of assembling two "girandole" earrings, consisting of a central element with three drop pendants, to which further elements were added to form a highly elaborate whole. This type belongs to the early 18th century. Other items in the treasure collection include typical liturgical vestments such as reliquaries, chalices, and host boxes.

- Sketch of the Coronation of the Madonna by Giacinto Diano (1788)

- Reliquary of the Holy Thorn (16th century)

- Annunciation Group (14th century, from the demolished church of Santa Maria Annunziata)

- Annunciation (from the church of Sant'Agostino)

- Madonna and Child by Jacopo da Lanciano (14th century) Along with the important collection of ex-voto jewels, two silk vestments are displayed, one from the 18th century and the other from the 19th century, used to dress the statues of the Patroness: the first, entirely embroidered in gold, bears the insignia of Giacomo Lieto of the Dukes of Polignano, Archbishop of Lanciano from 1754 to 1769, who in 1758 had a new marble altar made at the cathedral, executed by the Neapolitan Crescenzio Trinchese based on a design by Gennaro Campanile, influenced by Ferdinando Sanfelice.

The vestment, intended to cover the terracotta statue modeled after the Lauretana, is datable to those years. The second vestment is from the mid-19th century, covering the mannequin statue used for processions, and remained in use until the creation of the new statue in 1933, on the occasion of the centenary of the Coronation of the Madonna del Ponte.