The Museum was established to house ecclesiastical artifacts mainly from the churches of Sermoneta that are no longer used for worship. It is located in some rooms of the collegiate church of S. Maria, in the ancient chapel of the Magi and in the adjacent Oratory of the Battenti, architectures built in the second half of the 15th century. The first room has a square plan and is covered by a ribbed vault; the second is a vaulted rectangular hall entirely painted by Giovan Domenico Fiorentini (1747-1820) with scenes from the life of Jesus Christ and images of saints. The latter was the seat of the Confraternity of the Battenti, a lay association aimed at the spiritual uplift of its members through practices of piety, charity, and worship. The museum complex exhibits paintings and frescoes, sculptures, goldsmith objects, liturgical vestments, and illuminated liturgical books, works created from the 16th to the 19th century. Among the paintings, the Coronation of the Virgin by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521-1575) and St. Michael the Archangel casting out the demon by Frans Van de Kasteele, called Francesco da Castello (circa 1541-1620), stand out for their quality; among the objects, note a 1592 silver chalice, a 15th-century brass alms plate with repoussé, and an illuminated choral book with parchment pages and a leather cover adorned with embossed, engraved, and pierced brass plates. In the adjacent church of S. Maria, it is possible to admire the Madonna of the Angels holding the city of Sermoneta in her lap, painted by Benozzo Gozzoli around 1456.
Information about the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art of Sermoneta
Piazza Santa Maria, 15
04013 Sermoneta (Latina)
0773694261
beniculturali@diocesi.latina.it
Source: MIBACT
