Polo Museale Civico della Santissima Annunziata - Sezione Medievale e Moderna

Sulmona's Civic Museum of the Santissima Annunziata includes a Medieval and Modern Section with Abruzzese panel paintings, goldsmith work and Celestine memorabilia. Its documented collections were arranged across five rooms in the first-floor galleries of the Annunziata palace.

Why it matters

The civic museum grew from a collection of local archaeological finds assembled by antiquarian Antonio De Nino in the late nineteenth century. Its holdings later expanded to include medieval, Renaissance and Baroque works, tracing Sulmona's artistic heritage and its connections with the Celestine order and local goldsmiths.

What to notice

The Sala del Cavaliere brings together carved stone, liturgical furnishings and armour associated with the Giostra Cavalleresca. The Sala Giovanni da Sulmona holds fifteenth-century paintings and sculpture, including a tabernacle dated 1435. The Sala degli Affreschi contains detached frescoes and Sulmonese goldwork, including a fourteenth-century silver cross with Sienese enamels and reliquaries marked SVL. The Sala dei Catasti preserves manuscripts, reliquary busts and furnishings; its register of the 1376 onciario cadastre is described as the oldest in the southern provinces. The Sala Celestiniana includes altarpieces by Antonio Raffaello Mengs and Giovanni Conca.

Context and history

De Nino's first museum occupied one room of Palazzo Cattaneo. In 1894 the collection moved to the former monastery of Santa Caterina, where it expanded to include furnishings and works from local churches. In 1927, under director Guido Piccirilli, it moved to the Palazzo della Santissima Annunziata. Restoration after the 1984 earthquake renewed the building and collection. The Medieval and Modern Section closed after the 2009 earthquake.