Quadreria della Fondazione Carifano

The Quadreria della Fondazione Carifano brings together portraits and still lifes in the foundation's palace within Fano's Corte Malatestiana. Its collection includes the largest known group of still lifes by the Fano painter Carlo Magini, alongside works by Sebastiano Ceccarini and Jacob Ferdinand Vouet.

Why it matters

The gallery connects Fano's civic and artistic histories. The Corte Malatestiana began under Galeotto I Malatesta in 1357 and later housed papal governors and the city tribunal. In the 1930s Alberto Calza Bini restored the palace as the seat of the Cassa di Risparmio di Fano; the foundation's collection began in 1969 with the bank's acquisition of Guercino's Marriage of the Virgin, now displayed in the Pinacoteca di San Domenico.

What to notice

The Sala dei Ritratti contains thirteen portraits: seven by Magini, three by Ceccarini or his workshop, one by Vouet and two by unidentified artists. The Sala delle nature morte holds fourteen still lifes, thirteen by Magini. His paintings arrange familiar kitchen objects and game with a measured use of light. The ground floor presents works by local artists of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Context and history

Magini was born in Fano around 1720 and died there in 1806. After a period of obscurity, his work drew renewed critical attention in the twentieth century. A 2025 exhibition at the foundation explored his still lifes in the context of the Marche and Romagna.