MuTeCo - Museo del Tessuto e del Costume di Spoleto

MuTeCo, Spoleto's Textile and Costume Museum, presents fabrics and clothing from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries. Its collection includes sacred vestments, historic costume, accessories and textiles associated with local weaving traditions.

Why it matters

The museum's collection developed through donations to the city. Its textiles show how fabric, pattern and technique were used in religious settings and everyday life, linking Spoleto to a wider history of textile production and trade.

What to notice

The five thematic rooms include sacred vestments, a fifteenth-century velvet with pomegranate motifs, historic costume and accessories. A gown associated with Alexandrine Bonaparte is part of the costume collection. Another room presents the so-called tovaglie perugine, patterned textiles that appear in paintings by artists including Giotto, Ghirlandaio and Leonardo.

Context and history

The museum is housed in Palazzo Rosari Spada, a seventeenth- and eighteenth-century residence with coffered ceilings. The collection spans several centuries and is arranged thematically, bringing together religious and secular textiles. MuTeCo forms part of the Spoleto Cultura museum network.