MARV - Museo d'Arte Rubini Vesin

MARV, Gradara's civic art museum, occupies the state rooms of Palazzo Rubini Vesin, with stuccoed halls, a monumental staircase and underground spaces. Since 2019 the palace has hosted exhibitions of modern and contemporary graphic art.

Why it matters

The palace preserves layers of Gradara's civic history beyond its medieval fortress. Its noble floor took shape in 1707 under the archdeacon Giacomo Rubini, whose family gave the palace its name. The building later served civic functions before restoration and its conversion to a museum.

What to notice

The palace contains nine named halls, including the Sala della Rovere, Sala Farnese, Sala Olivieri and Salone. A wrought-iron clock mechanism, removed from the tower in 1867, is accompanied by an inscription recording the tower's renovation and the clock's renewal. The Teatro Comunale has occupied a wing of the palace since the late nineteenth century. Sixteenth-century grottoes and underground spaces survive below the main floor.

Context and history

Giacomo Rubini (1672–1752) reshaped the noble floor and connected the palace to the antiquarian learning of Pesaro through Annibale degli Abbati Olivieri. The building later accommodated municipal offices. From 2019, restoration adapted its rooms for MARV and its changing exhibitions. The palace's halls also recall the Della Rovere period: Guidobaldo II and Vittoria Farnese married in 1548, and Vittoria received the Rocca of Gradara as her dowry. Gradara's statutes, first granted under the Malatesta, were reformed in 1552.