Diocesan Museum and Tiepolo Galleries, Udine

The Diocesan Museum and Tiepolo Galleries has been located since 1995 in the 18th-century archiepiscopal palace, once the residence of the patriarchs of Aquileia. The palace’s interior appears as an extraordinary tribute to the grace of color and the scenographic expertise of Giambattista Tiepolo. Established in 1963, the Diocesan Museum has been housed since April 29, 1995, in the Patriarchal Palace of Udine, formerly the residence of the Patriarch of Aquileia and today the archbishop’s residence. The extraordinary architectural and pictorial setting in which the museum collections were arranged was the foundation for naming the entire complex “Diocesan Museum and Tiepolo Galleries.” 

Contents

The collection of the Diocesan Museum and Tiepolo Galleries includes about 700 works, some of which are on public display.

A significant part of the artistic heritage preserved by the Museum comes from the parishes of the Udine diocese. The wooden sculpture section is almost entirely made up of works that, for conservation and protection reasons, were preferred to be placed in a facility offering greater security guarantees than the original places of worship.

The rooms where the various collections are displayed and the main floor represent an additional point of excellence for the Museum. In the palace, it is indeed possible to enjoy the beauty of the 18th-century frescoes by Giambattista Tiepolo, who decorated, by order of the then patriarch Dionisio Dolfin, the ceiling of the Honor Staircase, the Guest Gallery, and the Red Room. Also on the main floor are the evocative grotesques by Giovanni da Udine in the Blue Room, the stuccoes of the Yellow Room, and the Patriarchal Library, custodian of a very rich book heritage.

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