Pinacoteca Diocesana

Senigallia's Diocesan Art Gallery occupies the former cardinal-bishops' apartment on the noble floor of the bishop's palace. Decorated rooms provide a historic setting for sacred paintings, silverwork and vestments.

Why it matters

The collection brings works from diocesan churches into a setting closely connected with local ecclesiastical history. Federico Barocci's Madonna of the Rosary is a central work within a wider account of painting in the Marche.

What to notice

A staircase in the Vanvitellian manner leads to the throne room and decorated salons. Paintings by Barocci, Andrea Lilli, Ercole Ramazzani and Giovanni Andrea Donducci, known as Il Mastelletta, represent different approaches to sacred subjects. Worked silver and embroidered vestments extend the collection beyond painting.

Context and history

Bishop Odo Fusi Pecci established the gallery by decree in February 1992, and it opened that May. Its home had formerly served as the residence of Senigallia's cardinal-bishops. Barocci's altarpiece was commissioned for the Confraternity of the Assunta and Rosario at San Rocco, linking the gallery with the devotional life of the city's churches.