National Museum of Medieval and Modern Art of Basilicata, Art museum in Historic Centre of Matera, Italy.
The National Museum of Medieval and Modern Art of Basilicata occupies Palazzo Lanfranchi in Piazzetta Pascoli, in Matera's historic centre. It is divided into four sections: Sacred Art, Collectibles, Contemporary Art and a Demoethnoanthropological section. The Sacred Art section holds sculpture, painting and decorative art from the region's diocese, from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. In front of the entrance stands Kengiro Azuma's sculpture La Goccia.
Palazzo Lanfranchi, which houses the museum, was formerly a seminary and from 1864 became the seat of the Liceo ginnasio Emanuele Duni, now located uptown. In December 1994 the building, already home to the superintendency offices, was chosen as the museum's seat. After adaptation works, the museum opened on 6 May 2003, largely through the efforts of Michele D'Elia and Salvatore Abita. In December 2019 it was joined with the Museo archeologico Domenico Ridola to form the Museo nazionale di Matera.
The museum's four sections include a demoethnoanthropological collection of everyday objects gathered across Lucania. The Collectibles section holds seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Neapolitan-school paintings from the Camillo d'Errico collection of Palazzo San Gervasio, with landscapes, battles and still lifes by artists such as Luca Giordano, whose Il giuramento di Bruto is kept here.
The museum occupies Palazzo Lanfranchi in Piazzetta Pascoli, in Matera's historic centre; the Kengiro Azuma sculpture La Goccia stands in front of the entrance. Since December 2019 it has formed part of the Museo nazionale di Matera together with the Domenico Ridola archaeological museum, so check which rooms are open before setting out. The four sections are spread over the floors of the historic building.
The 18.50 by 3.20 metre canvas Lucania '61 was painted by Carlo Levi for the Italia '61 international exhibition in Turin and dedicated to the memory of the Lucanian poet Rocco Scotellaro. It hangs among forty-four Levi works, some on loan from the Carlo Levi Foundation in Rome.
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