Type:

Luoghi della cultura; Ente/Istituzione

Category:

Museums

Archaeological Museum and Civic Art Gallery The Museo Archeologico e Pinacoteca Comunale has its premises in Todi overlooking the eastern side of Piazza del Popolo, the political and religious heart of the town and one of the most beautiful squares in Italy. It is housed on the last floor of the two palaces, Palazzo del Podestà and Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo, which were once united—during the 17th century—by an overpass. Palazzo del Podestà, also called Communal Palace, had its construction started in 1213, based on a model taken from the typical design of Northern Italian Communal palaces. The construction of Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo started in 1293 and protracted until 1301. The Civic Museum of Todi was instituted in 1871 and initially had its premises inside the Rooms of the Captain, today the Council Hall in Palazzo del Capitano. Reorganized and reopened to the public in 1997, the exhibition itinerary starts with a visit to the museum of the town, which includes objects illustrating the main events of the town history. Five typological sections follow. In the first section—the archaeological one—there are Attic ceramics decorated with red and black shapes, domestic tools or female ornaments and votive bronzes, evidence of the close commercial ties between Todi and the nearby Volsinii—Orvieto. The second section—the numismatic one—includes Pre-Roman, Greek, and Roman Republican and Imperial coins, followed by Ostrogoths, Byzantines, medieval and modern ones, for a total of 1475 samples, of which 130 pieces were coined by the Tuder Mint. The textile section follows, where liturgical vestments and handmade items of various ages and provenance are exhibited. The section dedicated to ceramics includes earthenware—prevalently of common use dating from the 8th to the 18th century—and is displayed in a splendid hall furnished with portraits of illustrious personalities of Todi, a fresco depicting the town and its territorial landscape by Pietro Paolo Sensini and a fresco depicting the legend of the Founding of Todi by Ignazio Mei. In the Pinacoteca—the Art Gallery—apart from the majestic altarpiece of Giovanni di Pietro, called Lo Spagna, one of the most important disciples of the Perugino, depicting The Coronation of the Virgin, there are a number of canvases of the 17th century documenting the close relationship between the local figurative culture and that of Rome.