Museo dell'Abbazia di San Colombano

The Museo dell’Abbazia di San Colombano occupies the former scriptorium and library rooms of Bobbio’s abbey. Its six-part exhibition follows the history of the collection from the Roman period through the early Middle Ages to the Renaissance.

Why it matters

The museum brings together finds from excavations around Bobbio and the basilica crypt, alongside works from the town’s cathedral. Its collections reflect the abbey’s long history as a religious and cultural centre.

What to notice

Roman objects include an ivory casket, made in the Syrian-Palestinian tradition in the third or fourth century, with Orpheus among the animals. In the lapidary, the tomb slab of Abbot Cumiano—given to the monastery by the Lombard king Liutprand—has Lombard carving on its front and Carolingian work on its reverse. Pilgrim objects include sixth-century flasks that carried oil from the Holy Land. The collection also features Bernardino Luini’s 1522 polyptych.

Context and history

The present exhibition was arranged in 1997 in rooms that once housed the abbey’s celebrated scriptorium and library. The museum’s objects range from Roman antiquities and early medieval stonework to devotional works and Renaissance painting. An alabaster hydria is traditionally associated with Pope Honorius I, while some relics are traditionally linked to Saint Columbanus.