Museo diocesano dell’arte sacra, Alghero

It is located in the historic center of the city, near the cathedral, in the oratory of Our Lady of the Rosary, where the homonymous suppressed confraternity founded in 1568 in the church of San Francesco was based. In the museum, inaugurated on June 30, 2000, the liturgical treasure of the cathedral of Alghero and the other historic churches of the city is preserved. The museum collection is divided into six sections: silver, paintings, wooden sculptures, cabinetry, stone material, and bronzes. Silver: of particular importance is the reliquary of the True Cross, a fine work of Catalan origin, forged by an unknown silversmith from Alghero in the 1500s. Cabinetry: the section includes a large baroque tabernacle in inlaid wood, coming from the church of San Giovanni Battista, a typical example of the austere cabinetry of the Capuchin Order. Wooden sculptures: this section hosts several simulacra of saints and the Virgin, testifying to the cults and devotions that, over the centuries, have nourished the faith of the people of Alghero. The collection of bronzes includes two bells, one of which, from the 15th century, comes from the bell tower of the cathedral. The museum collection includes canvases dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. Highlighted is the predella of the retablo of the Annunciation, coming from the small church of the Hope, in the countryside of Alghero and attributed to a painter of Catalan education active in the early years of the 16th century. Remarkable is the cycle of paintings ascribable to a Genoese painter from the mid-17th century who drew from Rubens scenes of the life of Christ and the Virgin.