Best Western
Hotel Viterbo

Civic Museum

: : Map of Viterbo : : Click for a larger view Download PDF

: : Map of Province : : Click for a larger view Download PDF

Address: Piazza F. Crispi
Tel: 0039-0761-340810
e-mail: museocivico@comune.viterbo.it

The museum is presently closed for restorations.

The civic collections are exhibited in the ex-convent of the Serviti, attached to the church of Saint Maria of the Verità, the museum seat until 1955. The entrance of the museum leads you into the Gothic 1300’s cloister, connected to the section dedicated to epigraphy, rich with numerous sarcophagus’ from the necropolis’ of Norchia, Civita, Ferento, Musarna, etc.., dating back to between the 3rd and 1st centuries B.C., containing interesting Etruscan inscriptions.

The other exhibition halls and distributed on three levels; on the ground floor we find the archaeological section, in part coming from a collection of Luigi Rossi Danielli, that includes funerary findings from various parts of the Viterbo area, from the 8th century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D. bearing witness to the Etruscan, Faliscan and Roman civilities through statues, terracotta, bronzes, jewelry, slabs and inscribed gravestones.
On the first floor we find an art gallery holding pieces from the 13th to the 17th century.Two noted pieces are works of art by Sebastian del Piombo (1486 -1547); : La Pietà (1516-1517) and La Flagellazione (1525), requested by G. Botonti for a chapel of Saint Francesco in Viterbo. Two large slabs that show the experienced talent and the capacity of the painter to unite anatomy and Michelangelo style to typical warm and smoked Venetian style tones.

The towering figures express a dignified and highly moral sacredness, without frills. The background of the “Pietà”, the night tied to Venetian models, enriches even more the mystic and mysterious scene. Other paintings to admire in the gallery are works by Antoniazzo Romano, Vitale from Bologna, Salvator Rosa, M. Benefial, Cesare Nebbis, and Antiveduto Grammatica. Local artists include Antonio del Massaro, known as the Pastor, and G.F. Romanelli.

This section also holds frescoes that have come from other churches and local palaces like S. Maria in Gradi, S. Maria Nuova, Palazzo dei Priori, etc.
On the last floor, a portrait gallery holds works from the 18th and 19th century with portraits of some of the original people connected to the founding of the museum.