Museo Diocesano di Sarzana

Founded in 2003 to keep the sacred art of an ancient diocese together, the Diocesan Museum of Sarzana occupies the Oratory of the Misericordia on Piazza Firmafede. Its rooms lead from an eighth-century silver reliquary of the Holy Blood through medieval goldsmith work to Baroque canvases by Domenico Fiasella and Domenico Piola.

Why it matters

The museum was instituted to protect a heritage that had been scattered across parish churches of the lower Val di Magra, the territory of the old diocese of Luni that later became Luni-Sarzana and today is the Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato. Choosing the Oratory of the Misericordia as its seat tied the collection to one of the city's historic devotional buildings near the Renaissance Cittadella. Opened in 2003, the museum presents paintings, sculptures, silver and ancient textiles reflecting the religious history of Sarzana and its valley.

What to notice

The museum's collection includes an eighth-century ark-shaped reliquary of pierced silver sheet, attributed to the Coptic-Syrian sphere and associated with the cathedral treasury. Tradition holds that the relic reached Luni by sea; the reliquary held it until an ostensory replaced it in 1615. Another work is the processional Flagellazione di Cristo, attributed to Pietro Galleano, a pupil of Anton Maria Maragliano. The museum also preserves paintings by Domenico Fiasella and a Perdono di Assisi by Domenico Piola, a fourteenth-century silver-gilt enamelled processional cross, and an eighth-century purse-shaped reliquary.

Context and history

Founded in 2003, the Diocesan Museum was created to preserve sacred art from the lower Val di Magra and the former diocese of Luni, later Luni-Sarzana and now part of the Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato. Its seat in the Oratory of the Misericordia connects the collection to one of Sarzana's historic devotional buildings. The museum's collection brings together paintings, sculpture, silver and historic textiles from the religious history of Sarzana and its valley. The former oratory's two floors retain the architecture of the nave, presbytery, sacristies and upper rooms.