Diocesan Museum San Matteo

The museum

The Museum is located in the historic palace of the Archbishop Seminary, which was, before, the last seat of theMedical school in Salerno(expressed in 1811).

The same building also houses theLibraryand theArchivediocesan, where ancient volumes, documents and hundreds of medieval parchments are preserved.

The current façade of the building has an elegant neoclassical line, resulting from the changes made by Archbishop Lupoli in 1832. The symmetrical design is centred on the central gate, decorated with the archbishop’s marble coat of arms, while the upper balcony is framed by a small sanctuary that recalls the style of classical temples.

The collection

The original core of the collection was the works of art donated by the Marquis Ruggi d’Aragonaand the ArchbishopIsidoro Sánchez de Luna, as well as remarkable artefacts preserved in the sacristy of the Cathedral. It was enriched over time by other works from churches of the diocese and interesting finds purchased on the antiquarian market or from testamentary legacies.

Among all the works, we first mention thecycle of ivory, the largest and most complete collection of ivory tablets of the Christian Middle Ages existing in the world. The cycle consists of 64 pieces, of which 34 are illustrated with scenes depicting episodes of the Old and New Testament. The dating would be between the end of the 11th and early 12th century.

Another work of rilevo is theExultet, a scroll in parchment of the 13th century, composed of 11 illustrated sheets with miniatures, which was used during the liturgy of Holy Saturday.

These two precious works are flanked byten medieval codes, including from the artistic point of view thePontifical, realized at several times between the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century, as it is possible to deduct from the coats of arms on foot and the techniques used.

ThePinacotecaof the Museum is composed almost100 paintings,expression of the figurative culture of southern Italy from the 13th to the 18th century. Among the works on display are:

– a Crosspainted in the 13th century;

– the Crucifixionby Roberto d’Oderisio, one of the protagonists of Gothic art in Naples;

– the Pietàfrom the church of Saints Crispino and Crispiniano, dating back to the last decades of the fourteenth century;

– theCoronation of the Virginof Eboli of the fifteenth century;

– a panel depicting Saint Michael Archangel,work of Cristoforo Scacco;

– different paintings Andrea Sabatini from Salerno, important painter of the first quarter of the 16th century (Pietà, La Madonna e i Santi Aniello e Leonardo, La Madonna di Costantinopoli).

Work of great importance is also the so-calledCross of theBarriersof the 12th century.
The sculpture is present with few pieces, but of great interest, as aSaint Josephin gilded wood dating back to the 15th century, the San Martino, theMadonna with Child and Madonna of Gracespainted terracotta.

The museum is preservedLapide of Alfano Idated 1078, first document of the Norman conquest of Salerno, and amedagliewhich preserves many coins from Antiquity to the Renaissance.

Treasures to discover

– The Crucifix said of the Barliario

Located in the second room of the Cross and coming from the Church of San Benedetto, it is an extraordinary example of wooden art of 1200. It represents ChristTriumphans,according to the Byzantine tradition. Although it suffered considerable damage following a fire of the nineteenth century, the work still retains a strongly expressive face and has two lateral tables depicting the Madonna and San Giovanni.

– San Michele Arcangelo– Cristoforo Scacco, 1503-1505

The painting depicts the Saint in the role of “heater” of souls and defender of good. In the painting, influences were identified from the Umbria-Emilian area and references to Leonardo himself. Cristoforo Scacco, painter of Bramantesca and Padovana-mantegnesca formation, was active between Naples and southern Lazio.

– La Pietà – Andrea Sabatini, First half XVI century

It is a painting of great intensity, made in the first half of the sixteenth century, probably as an altarpiece. In it painting and sculpture are interwoven, between the pictorial virtuosity of the table and the wonderful frame carved and gilded, typical of the works of the first Renaissance.

Curiosity to know

– The Hearts of the World

Between the nineteenth and the Second World War, some of the avours were taken away by collectors of time or by occupying armies. The Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the State Museums in Berlin, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.

– A prayer with images

In medieval times the Exultet was written on a long scroll of parchment that the deacon or the singer read during the Easter night, making it flow from the pulpit to the faithful gathered in prayer. The text was written in the sense of reading of the singer, while the images were engraved or painted, on the same side of the scroll, but in the opposite direction to that of the written part. In this way, while the parchment was flowed down from the pulpit, the faithful who did not know Latin culture could still follow history and prayer through illustrations.

– An alchemist wizard

The Mago Barliario is a historical character lived in Salerno in the 12th century, on which there are many legends, including the miraculous construction in a night of the Bridge of the Devils. It is said that once he bet that he would build an aqueduct in one night, an aqueduct capable of bringing water throughout the city. He therefore asked Lucifer for help, so that he would entrust him with his infernal court to complete the enterprise. The Lord of the Abyss sent him a thousand devils to help.