Museo Diocesano of Palermo

About

The Diocesan Museum of Palermo (Italian - MUDIPA or Museo diocesano di Palermo) is a museum of religious art in Palermo on Sicily, housed in a number of rooms in the Palazzo Arcivescovile opposite Palermo Cathedral.

It was founded in 1927 by cardinal Alessandro Lualdi, Archbishop of Palermo (1904–1927).

This houses the welcome desk as well as artworks from the Norman and Swabian eras.

This contains works from the 14th and 15th centuries as well as imported 14th century Pisa works:

- 1171, Madonna of the Pearl, tempera on panel, anonymous, from Santa Maria del Cancelliere church

- 13th century, Madonna della Spersa, tempera on parchment mounted on panel, anonymous, from San Nicolò all'Albergheria church

- 1388, Roll of Dead Brothers, tempera on panel, Antonio Veneziano, commissioned by the Confraternita dei Disciplinanti, from San Nicolò lo Reale church

- 1419, Coronation of the Virgin Mary with St John the Baptist and St Nicholas of Bari, tempera on panel, Master of the Coronations, from San Nicolò lo Reale church.

- 15th century, Abraham and the Three Angels with a Commissioner, with an inscription " tres vidit et unum adoravit " (three see and one adores), tempera on panel, Master of the Coronations, from the basilica della Santissima Trinità del Cancelliere known as la Magione.

- 15th century, Madonna and Child, tempera on panel, anonymous Tuscan painter, from San Giovanni dei Napoletani church.

Room III - originally the Sala della trifora, now the Sala delle Croci'

Objects from excavations at the Archepiscopal Palace from the Archaic age, Byzantine period and medieval era.

This houses 15th-century sculptures by artists such as Domenico Gagini, Pietro de Bonitate and Francesco Laurana. Those by Gagini are:

- Scenes from the Lives and Martyrdoms of Saint Christina and Saint Nympha, eight panel marble bas-relief, Domenico Gagini.

This contains 16th-century sculptural fragments from Palermo Cathedral by Antonello Gagini and his workshop, removed during Ferdinando Fuga 's rebuilding, along with a plaster reconstruction by Prof. Salvatore Rizzuti and his students at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Palermo and the sculptures from the Tribuna of Antonello Gagini in the cathedral.

- Christ Falling and Crucifixion, marble bas-relief which inspired Raphael 's Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary, Antonello Gagini.

- 1535–1557, Saint Restituta of Africa, marble statue produced for the monastery church of Santa Chiara in Palermo, Antonello Gagini and Giacomo Gagini.

Devoted to sculpture and decorative arts from the 17th and 18th centuries, it displays locally produced maiolica and several 16th-century mixed-marble fragments from the Cathedral and other Baroque churches in the city produced by local craftsmen. It also houses two 1728–1729 works by Giacomo Serpotta, Allegory of Faith and Allegory of Clemency, both in monochrome stucco.

Named after Mario Di Laurito, the room shows views of the city by him, particularly one of the city during the 1530 plague showing the view from the cathedral.

This room displays works by Pietro Novelli and is named after him. These include an Annunciation in oil on canvas from Santa Maria delle Grazie di Montevergini church.