The civic museum has reopened to the public after significant setup work in the former church of San Domenico. The first museum collection was established here in 1973, with paintings, terracotta, and sculptures displayed along the chapels. The paintings, about twenty in number, partly come from the initial collection of the art gallery, thanks to the efforts of Mayor Giuseppe Vandini, who in 1869 gathered the most valuable works from the Argenta churches into the town hall. The collection provides documentation of the artistic heritage of the area between the 16th and 17th centuries, where Ferrarese figurative experiences intersect. Noteworthy are Garofalo’s ‘Madonna with Child between Saints Lazarus and Job’, Antonio Aleotti’s ‘The Virgin on the Throne’, Francesco Longhi’s ‘Madonna with Saints Peter and Paul’, ‘The Decapitation’ by Scarsellino, Camillo Ricci’s ‘The Earthquake of Argenta’, works by Marco Niccolò Balestri, Dulauvier, and Domenico Fetti. The inclusion of a section dedicated to 13th-century Argenta is planned in the museum’s exhibition path. At the center of the nave is the museum’s archaeological section. The artifacts, from excavations carried out between 1982 and 1993, document the territory’s history starting from the 6th century AD, a period reflected in the precious Ravenna mosaic floor found in the apse of the nearby parish church of San Giorgio. From the same excavation campaign come pieces of great interest, including an Ostrogoth buckle with an eagle’s head, numerous glass and metal objects, and coins from the 12th-century Venetian mint. Materials recovered from the lakeside settlement of Palmanova, near the presumed site of the Argenta castle, are slightly more recent. These include everyday containers, a lead fishing net weight, and a bronze buckle. 16th- and 17th-century sgraffito ceramics emerged instead from a construction excavation on via Matteotti. Among the most recent finds are the artifacts from via Vinarola: wood, metal, glass, and ceramics dating back to the 13th century.
Information about the Civic Museum of Argenta
Via G.B. Aleotti, 46,
44011 Argenta (Ferrara)
0532330248
ecomuseo@comune.argenta.fe.it.
https://www.portaleargenta.it/index.php
Source: MIBACT
