Museo d'Arte San Martino

The Museum of Sacred Art San Martino is located in the palace built in the late sixteenth century by rate accounts, then bought in 1670 by the family that Pellicioli the Palace. The first interventions on the building date back to 1994, while the final stages of restoration of the sacristy. The decision to proceed is to the works of restoration that the creation of the exhibition space arises from the vision and the will of the parish priest Monsignor Alberto Facchinetti, who from the beginning of its mandate, including the enormous importance not only artistic, but also of pastoral heritage present in the parish. The renovation of the building, the realization of all the exhibition spaces and the restoration of Sacristies were designed and followed by the architect Carlo Panigada, in collaboration with Valerio Mazzoleni, first rector of the Museum. The building, in extremely precarious conditions, required a complex restructuring operation and difficult to adapt to the new destination. They have been obtained, on three floors, fourteen exhibitions, local halls for cultural events and conferences, in addition to the rooms for offices and archives. In the halls of the museum is a large collection of objects of worship and devotional, vestments, drawings, codes and illuminated choir books, important paintings. This is not however only the relevant objects from the artistic point of view, but of elements that read as a whole constitute the spiritual path of Alzano Maggiore community. Removed from oblivion in which was losing, works of art or simple liturgical objects, recovered almost in their entirety within the local heritage, they return to be a real journey of catechesis, thereby continuing to exercise the task for which they were conceived, not a mere hoarding, but the possibility of creating a fruitful dialogue with the outside world. It should be recalled in this connection that part of the liturgical vestments and the processional tools continue to be used, such as over the centuries, still during some periods of the year, accompanying the sacred processions and liturgy. This continuity of metaphorical use is a museum that is indeed a place for conservation, but also, and especially, a place of continuous relationship with the life of alzanese church and his community. In particular on the main floor of the building, in addition to rooms designed to accommodate the most ancient records of the church, the choir books and projects for the façade of the Basilica, the rich heritage of traditional liturgical furniture and curious objects, vestments and processional banners, displays some very interesting paintings. Among these, alongside century paintings, including important paintings of Cavagna and the eighteenth century which originally decorated the walls of the Chapel of the Rosary, stand out the San Cristoforo, Tintoretto and the beautiful St. Peter Martyr from Verona, by Palma the Old.