Museo Regionale Agostino Pepoli

The Agostino Pepoli Regional Museum occupies a former Carmelite convent beside Trapani's Sanctuary of the Annunziata. Its collections bring together sculpture, painting and decorative arts from western Sicily, including the coral and silverwork for which Trapani's workshops were renowned.

Why it matters

Count Agostino Pepoli assembled the museum's first collections between 1906 and 1908, combining his own holdings with works from religious institutions and other collections. The museum opened in the early twentieth century and developed into a broad account of western Sicilian art, from archaeological material to works of the nineteenth century.

What to notice

The former convent's Mannerist cloister and polychrome marble staircase introduce the galleries. Among the collections are Renaissance sculptures from the Gagini school, a painting gallery, nativity figures, maiolica, vestments and jewellery from the treasury of the Madonna di Trapani. Coral, gold and silverwork feature prominently, including a 1633 hanging lamp signed by Matteo Bavera. A maiolica floor panel depicts the tuna fishery known as the mattanza.

Context and history

The museum stands beside the sanctuary that houses the Madonna di Trapani, a marble statue dating to about 1360 and attributed to Nino Pisano. The shrine's treasury forms part of the museum's collections. In the 1960s, director Vincenzo Scuderi and architect Francesco Minissi reorganised the displays into sections for sculpture, painting and industrial arts. Later additions expanded the presentation of Renaissance sculpture and the Risorgimento.