La Pinacoteca Provinciale houses one of the most important art collections in the city of Salerno. The historic Palazzo Pinto, along the Via dei Mercanti, houses a rich heritage of paintings ranging from the Renaissance to the last post-war period.
The history of the Pinacoteca begins in the first half of the last century, when the BaronGennaro Pintohe donated the first floor of his palace and his personal collection of paintings to the Provincial Administration of Salerno. Over the next decades, the collection has been enriched by purchases, donations and testamentary legacies from the entire Salento area.
Initially, the Pinacoteca was distributed among the different offices of the Province of Salerno, since the rooms of Palazzo Pinto housed part of the provincial library. A long and important work of restoration has affected this ancient noble residence from the medieval plant in the last years of the last century, bringing it back to the ancient splendor.
Since 2001, the Pinacoteca has been welcoming visitors to an elegant and prestigious setting in the heart of the historic centre. In addition to its precious collection, the museum hosts exhibitions and events of national and international breath and has become an obligatory stage of an ideal visit to the city.
A fascinating gallery of sacred depictions, landscapes, still life, portraits welcomes the visitor in the five halls of the permanent collection.
The rich heritage of paintings ranges fromRenaissanceto the20th centurytelling the genius of artists howSabatiniandSolimena, up to the followers ofSchool of Posillipoand the many foreigners who have operated in Costiera.
The exhibition is divided into several sections according to a chronological criterion.
– InRenaissance sectionwe find the tables of Andrea Sabatini from Salerno and the Master of the Coronation of Eboli.
– Of great interest are the Six hundred and sixtyby Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, Andrea De Lioni, Carlo Rosa.
– Del 18th centuryare the paintings of Francesco Solimena and his Academy.
– There are many paintings by Salento painters and so-called costaioli, lived between the second half of the nineteenth and twentieth century, such as Tafuri, Avallone, Capone.
– A section is dedicated to foreign artists, whose presence was particularly important in a province like that of Salento, travelled by many heirs of the Gran Tour. The works, of this section, different by technique and materials, mostly belong to German authors who lived in the Amalfi Coast between the two world wars. These include Stefan Andres, Kurt Craemer, Richard Dölker, Monica Hannasch, Irene Kowaliska, Bruno Marquardt, Vassilij Necitailov, Lisel Oppel, Karli Sohn-Rethel, Michael Theile, Peter Willburger.
– Salome with the head of St. John the Baptist on the plate – Battistello Caracciolo bottle, first half 17th century
In the work, the unknown follower of Battistello Caracciolo was portrayed by a representation of Salomè with the head of the Baptist who had to circulate in the Neapolitan Caribbean environment. In the painting is depicted Salomè in the foreground with the tray on which the head of the Baptist was rested, next to there is an elderly woman, identifiable with Herod, wife of Herod and mother of Salomè and on the right there is the boia still the knife in hand.
– Madonna with Child and Saint John– Leonardo Antonio Olivieri,first half 18th century
The painting was attributed to the school of the students of Francesco Solimena, with particular reference to Leonardo Antonio Olivieri active in Naples from 1715. The Madonna is depicted with Jesus child in her arms while holding a veil of yellow color and in the lower the little Saint John intent on caressing a little girl’s feet.
– The section of foreign artists
The origin of the section dates back to1999,when five strongholds and three watercolours of the Austrian artist Peter Willburger were purchased. Today the section houses more than fifty works by eleven different artists. The Salento area has always been a destination for foreign travelers, since the years of the Grand Tour when it spread a great interest towards the ancient Magna Greece, after the discovery of the ancient Poseidonia/Paestum. During the Second World War, the coast of Amalfi also welcomed many exiles fleeing the totalitarian regimes, thus further fueling the interest towards Salernitano.
– The word ‘pinacoteca’
The term comes from the union of two words in Greek:Pinax, framework, and♪, casket. In the ancient world♪was the place within sanctuaries or private houses dedicated to the display of religious tablets.
– Palazzo Pinto
Palazzo Pinto is located in the heart of the historic center of Salerno along one of its main arteries: the street of Mercanti historically home to commercial and craft activities. The original plant is medieval as witnessed by the numerous Romanesque vestiges of light, and is to be traced back to the Norman architecture of the XI and XII centuries.
Over the centuries the palace was restored and expanded on several occasions, with modifications that transformed it into a beautiful and elegant noble residence of which witnesses the surviving architectural elements: capitals, cornices, decorative inserts and arches like the Catalan one, on the ground floor.
The current plant of the building dates back to no later than the middle of the seventeenth century: from this date onwards there was a further extension through the acquisition of other buildings bordering the south and the covering of a loggia on the first floor, creating a much wider noble seat. In 1756 the whole complex passed into the property of the Pinto family, which maintained its ownership until the death of the last heir Gennaro, in 1910, who gave it through a testamentary legacy to the Province of Salerno.
Day | Morning | Afternoon |
|---|---|---|
Monday | not accessible | not accessible |
Tuesday | 09:00 – — | — 19:45 |
Wednesday | 09:00 – — | — 19:45 |
Thursday | 09:00 – — | — 19:45 |
Friday | 09:00 – — | — 19:45 |
Saturday | 09:00 – — | — 19:45 |
Sunday | 09:00 – — | — 19:45 |
Free admission
