Type:

Luoghi della cultura; Ente/Istituzione

Category:

Museums

“Nobile Collegio della Mercanzia” The Merchant Guild Premises and the Hall of Hearings The Nobile Collegio della Mercanzia premises are inside the original nucleus of Palazzo dei Priori, in Perugia. It occupies two rooms on the ground floor, which open on Corso Vannucci. Its name is due to the ancient Guild of the Merchants, who established their premises inside Palazzo dei Priori starting around the 1390s. It is a rare example of the originality and conservation of wooden decorations, made of “formelle”, inlaid panels—with a minimal recourse to coloring or gilding—of precious wood that reveals the influence of Nordic expertise in the use of wood. The Guild of the Art of the Merchants had among its duties that of exercising justice by settling disputes between merchants, supervising weight and measures and administering the Commune by guaranteeing the tutelage of public liberties. During the first decennials of the 15th century the corporation decided to decorate the Hall of the Hearings, in its entirety, with an elegant oak or poplar wooden coating, inlaid and probably the work of some craftsman coming from transalpine countries. The wall decoration is almost entirely made of wooden panels, with quatrefoil frames, of oak and poplar wood. Two exceptions are a small pulpit on the central left wall surmounted by the figures of Prudence, Fortitude, Justice and Temperance and the first part of the main wall to the right, which is decorated by two blind double lancet windows, “bifore”, and a rich fretwork. In the lunette there is the Merchants Guild Coat of Arms: the Perugian Griffin with a bale, and a double order seat reserved for the Merchant Consuls. In front, there is a counter, work of Costanzo Mattiolo, a Perugian artist. Inside the next Archive the splendid Registers of Membership dated 1323, 1356 and 1599 are held and preserved.