The Civic Museums, housed within the rooms of Palazzo Farnese, consist of the Civic Art Gallery, Archaeological Museum, Carriage Museum, and Museum of the Risorgimento. The visit offers a unique and diverse itinerary retracing the historical and artistic evolution of this city and its territory. The exhibition route begins in the palace’s underground levels, where the archaeological section is preserved, including the interesting Etruscan liver, and the carriage collection; on the mezzanine floor are sculptures, medieval and Renaissance frescoes, ancient weapons, glassware, ceramics, and Risorgimento memorabilia. The visit concludes on the first floor with the Art Gallery, whose works document the figurative culture of Piacenza from the 16th to the 19th century. Of particular note is the famous tondo by Botticelli.
The museum route, reorganized in 1997, opens on the raised floor with the section of majolica and glass, featuring pieces dating from the 16th to 18th centuries. This is followed by the Stucco Apartment and part of the Farnese Festivities, displayed in rooms decorated with stuccoes designed by A. Sighizzi with contributions from the Bibiena family. The decoration was commissioned in 1685 by Duke Ranuccio II, who entrusted Marcantonio Franceschini, Giovanni Evangelista Draghi, and Mauro Oddi with the execution of the painting cycle dedicated to Alessandro Farnese. Four monumental gilded wood fireplace mantels, precious works by carver Lorenzo Aili (1675), testify to the splendors of the Farnese court alongside other 17th-century furnishings. In 1690, Sebastiano Ricci completed the series of paintings framed by stuccoes—twenty-six still existing today—with the Stories of Paul III Farnese. Photographic reproductions document artworks moved to Naples by Charles of Bourbon (1734), not included in the partial restitution of 1928.
The visit continues with the fresco section, mostly from the church of St. Lorenzo, dating between the first half of the 14th and the early 15th century. The fragments from the chapel of St. Catherine, attributed to a workshop close to Giovannino de’ Grassi, are particularly valuable. The next rooms (10-14) house Romanesque sculptures of the “School of Piacenza,” epigraphs, and coats of arms; notably, an extremely rare copper and bronze crucifix from Vigolo Marchese, dating to the late 11th century. Other sculptures from the 15th to 18th centuries follow, along with the ancient weapons section, including some portraits.
The underground areas host the carriage collection, begun with a significant donation from Count Brondelli and later enriched by other acquisitions, counting about fifty pieces from the 18th to the 20th century, featuring prestigious Italian workshop signatures. The archaeological collection is also found here, preserving evidence related to the settlement of the area from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic; of particular interest is the famous Etruscan liver from Piacenza, the only direct source of knowledge of Etruscan haruspicy (liver reading for divinatory purposes), dating from the late 2nd to early 1st century BC.
On the mezzanine floor lies the Museum of the Risorgimento, inaugurated as an autonomous institute and later merged into the museums of Palazzo Farnese. It includes documents, uniforms, and memorabilia, partly donated by Count Barattieri, retracing the Risorgimento history of the city from 1831 to 1870. Much space is dedicated to the Mazzinian and Garibaldian movements, the activities of local patriots, particularly Giuseppe Manfredi, president of the insurgent committee in 1857 and governor of the Parma provinces. Among the relics, a tricolor flag with the Savoy coat of arms, the sketch for the Garibaldi monument in the square in front of the station, weapons, and coins—over five thousand pieces including the complete series of coins minted in Piacenza.
Regarding contemporary art, the Palazzo has hosted various initiatives and collective and solo exhibitions, including “The Soul of the 20th Century. From de Chirico to Fontana” from the Mazzolini Collection, donated to the Diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio by Rosa Mazzolini, whose collection already included that of the Simonetti brothers: a collection of 899 works organized between the 16th-century Palazzo Farnese in Piacenza, the Palazzo del Podestà in Castell’Arquato, and the Episcopal Palace of Bobbio. Among other exhibitions are Rebecca Forster’s solo show “The Liver of Piacenza (Contemporary Artworks Exhibited Near the Object that Inspired Them)”, followed by the solo exhibitions of Dino Maccini and Piacenza sculptor Sergio Brizzolesi’s “Queens.” In 2011, during the opening of the Omeofestival in Piacenza, dedicated to the element of fire, the performance “The Warmth of Color” by Bianca Maria Neri took place; later, the museum rooms hosted Christian Zucconi’s solo show titled “Stigmata.”
Information on Civic Museums of Palazzo Farnese
Piazza Cittadella, 29,
29121 Piacenza (Piacenza)
0523492661
musei.farnese@comune.piacenza.it
https://www.musei.piacenza.it
Source: MIBACT
