Civica Raccolta d'Arte Claudio Ridolfi

Corinaldo's Claudio Ridolfi Municipal Art Collection combines sacred art from local churches with an archaeological display devoted to the Tomba del Principe, a seventh-century BC Picene burial discovered in the Nevola valley in 2018.

Why it matters

The gallery brings together two distinct collections: paintings and liturgical objects from Corinaldo's religious heritage, and finds from the princely tomb. The archaeological discovery was made through the University of Bologna's ArcheoNevola project, which identified cropmarks in aerial images before excavation revealed a circular-ditch funerary monument.

What to notice

The sacred-art collection includes eighteen carved and painted wooden reliquary busts attributed to Sicilian carvers of the early seventeenth century, a silver processional cross dated 1615, and paintings by Ercole Ramazzani, Gaspare Gasparini, Claudio Ridolfi, Domenico Peruzzini and Giuseppe Marchesi. The Tomba del Principe exhibition presents twelve selected objects from the burial, including a bronze helmet and greave, chariot fittings, banquet vessels, an axe, spits and andirons.

Context and history

The gallery opened in 1996 and was reinstalled in 2012 in the former convent of the Eremitani Fathers of Sant'Agostino. Its paintings and liturgical objects include works from churches that were demolished or suppressed. Excavations in 2018 uncovered a burial deposit containing nearly one hundred objects associated with a high-status Picene individual of the seventh century BC. The exhibition was curated by Federica Boschi and Ilaria Venanzoni.