Museo dell'Opera del Duomo

Museum Pisa, Italy

The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Pisa is located in Piazza del Duomo, in the building that was the chapter house of the Primaziale, dating back to the 13th century, seminary, academy of fine arts and convent. It was inaugurated in 1986 to house the cathedral's treasury, the finds removed from sacred monuments for restoration and safeguarding reasons, and all those works that are no longer present in the various buildings of the monumental complex, but which required a public exhibition space. The museum takes its name from the body that manages the monumental complex, i.e. the Opera del Duomo of Pisa. Among the sculptures are the works of Tino di Camaino and Giovanni Pisano, including the Virgin with child in ivory, sculpted by Giovanni in 1300 for the main altar of the Cathedral. In the Treasury rooms there are many reliquaries from the 17th and 18th centuries, and also some medieval ones saved from the fire, including the one containing (according to tradition) some stones from Golgotha and the hermit's dress of San Ranieri, patron saint of the city. There are also preserved paintings from the 15th to the 17th century. This is followed by a series of wooden inlays from the ancient choir of the apse, a collection of sacred vestments and various Etruscan, Roman and Egyptian finds. The latter were collected in the 19th century by Carlo Lasinio, curator of the monumental cemetery, who made it into a sort of museum. Finally, again by Lasinio, there are colored watercolor prints representing the frescoes in the Camposanto, which today, for many of them, remain as evidence of what they were. From the cloister of the museum you can admire a splendid view of the Leaning Tower. The museum has been closed for restoration since 2015 and is expected to reopen in spring 2017.