Il Museo del Sigillo was opened to the public in the year 2000 on the first floor of the Palazzina delle Arti, a neo-medieval building from the 1920s designed by Franco Oliva in the city center. The displayed collection consists of the private collection of seals belonging to the spouses Lilian and Euro Capellini, donated some years ago to the Municipality of La Spezia. The Museum offers visitors the most complete collection of seals ever assembled. It indeed comprises about fifteen hundred matrices and seal impressions, dating from the 4th millennium BC to the present day.
The seals come from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Pre-Columbian America, China, Japan, and areas of Islamic influence. The most representative section of the Museum is made up of European and North American material. The exhibition path is organized in chronological and geographical order, starting with specimens from the 4th millennium BC, Egypt, and then the Roman imperial era. The period between the 18th and 19th centuries is the most important for seal production. Many were created by French masters, including the Art Nouveau crystal and glass ones made by René Lalique. There is also the presence of ecclesiastical seals from the 14th to the 19th centuries. In the second room, gold seals are exhibited, including works by the tsar’s jeweler, Fabergé. Finally, in the third room, seals produced in the East from the 4th century BC to contemporary times are displayed.
Information about Museo del sigillo
Via del Prione, 236
19100 La Spezia (La Spezia)
0187/778544
museodelsigillo@laspeziacultura.it
https://www.laspeziacultura.it
Source: MIBACT
