The Montagnana Civic Museum (established in 1980) is housed in the Castle of S. Zeno, the oldest part of the city’s fortifications (1242, construction of the great keep by Ezzelino da Romano; in the following century the Carraresi expanded the Castle, completing the famous city walls). The First Room houses materials from the prehistoric and protohistoric periods. The oldest evidence dates back to the late Neolithic and Eneolithic ages (end 4th-3rd millennium BC). The most substantial and significant archaeological remains of ancient Montagnana come from the Borgo S. Zeno locality, a protohistoric settlement dating between the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age (12th-8th century BC). The latest phase of the Iron Age is documented by the grave goods of a rich male tomb. The Celtic custom of burying the deceased with their weapons and trade tools is attested here: a sword with its scabbard, a spearhead, a large knife, a shear.
The Roman age – in the second room – is documented by numerous archaeological remains, from the Augustan era to the late Imperial period, belonging to rustic villas and burial grounds, indicating a scattered settlement across the territory, often situated on riverine hills of Atesine origin. More significant and valuable are the funerary monuments and grave goods; particularly rich are the sets associated with a family burial ground of members of the gens Vassidia, likely landowners of the area. Among the stone monuments, the large white marble stele decorated in low relief with a long inscription on the facing side is noteworthy.
The Medieval and Modern Section consists of three distinct collections of materials, all related to the history and buildings of the walled city. Among the 14th-century paintings (Room IV) is a “Madonna enthroned with Saints Prosdocimus and Justina”, revealing a skillful execution drawing on the lesson of Altichiero da Zevio; then a Charity by Alessandro Varotari, known as il Padovanino, and a late canvas by the Atestine Antonio Zanchi (17th and 18th centuries).
The ceramics collection (Rooms III and IV) is extensive, offering through fragments an overview of Montagnana’s production and its relations with nearby artistic centers, Legnago, Este, and Padua, products from the late Carrarese period (14th century) and later (Renaissance graffito).
The Musical Section includes materials donated to the native Municipality of Montagnana primarily by the heirs of tenors Giovanni Martinelli (1885-1969) and Aureliano Pertile (1885-1952), famous protagonists of early 20th-century opera. Aureliano Pertile was recalled to La Scala by Arturo Toscanini in 1922, his preferred interpreter in operas by Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Auber, Massenet, Puccini, Mascagni, Respighi, Wolf-Ferrari, up to Wagner and Mussorgsky, demonstrating rare eclecticism. Giovanni Martinelli was invited by Puccini himself to perform his Girl of the West at the Teatro S. Carlo in Naples in 1911; the following year, debuting at London’s Covent Garden with Tosca, he was hailed as “a new Caruso.” He was then continuously engaged from 1913 to 1945 at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. The documents preserved at the Montagnana Civic Museum include original photographs, posters, and other testimonies of the careers of these two great singers. Of particular interest is a collection of stage costumes worn by Martinelli.
Information on Montagnana Civic Museum
Piazza Trieste, 15
35044 Montagnana (Padua)
0429804128
protocollo@comune.montagnana.pd.it
https://www.comune.montagnana.pd.it
Source: MIBACT
