Pinacoteca e museo civico di Volterra

History and description

The core of the collection was assembled initially in 1868 from works from suppressed churches and monasteries. By the 20th century, the local superintendent of art and art historian, Corrado Ricci, added works from his collection and others, for a display in the Palazzo dei Priori. In 1905, the collection was displayed as Galleria Pictorica. The collection included works by Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Candido, Priamo della Quercia, Taddeo di Bartolo, and Luca Signorelli, and the Volterra Deposition by Rosso Fiorentino. The gallery was closed during the Second World War until 1948.

The Palazzo dei Priori was a cramped locale for the many works, and in 1981 a display of works at the Palazzo Minucci-Solaini induced the authorities to create a new museum at that site, inaugurated in 1982. This palazzo was built in the late 1400s, with the design traditionally attributed to Antonio da Sangallo the Elder.

Collections

Madonna of the Rose, Enthroned Madonna and Child and Saints Anthony Abbot, John the Baptist, and Francis (1411) and Saints Nicholas of Tolentino and Peter by Taddeo di Bartolo

Madonna and Child with Saints Catherine and Lucy by Jacopo di Michele, also known as il Gera

Polyptych by Cenni di Francesco di Ser Cenni

Polyptych of the Virgin and Child with Saints Nicholas, John the Baptist, Christopher, and Michael by Alvaro Pirez