Set in the ancient complex of the Church of Gesù, the Diocesan Museum of the Cortona Chapter contains at least three masterpieces of Renaissance painting:
Diocesan Museum
of the Cortona Chapter
VALDICHIANA
- the famous altarpiece by Fra Angelico painted for the church of San Domenico;
- the Assumption of the Virgin by Bartolomeo della Gatta, originally in the church of the Benedictine monastery known as “delle Contesse”;
- the evocative Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Luca Signorelli from the Church of Santa Margherita.
In tribute to this artist, the Diocesan Museum was established in 1923 on the occasion of the fourth centenary of his death; some of the artist’s larger paintings exhibited here were originally on the altars of the Church of Gesù.
These paintings document the painter’s late period, but they were highlighted in 2012 at exhibitions in Perugia, Orvieto, and Città di Castello celebrating this artist.
The museum participated in The Renaissance in the land of Arezzo exhibition, which closed 18 November 2013.
Short Bibliography
Guida Storico Artistica al Museo Diocesano di Cortona, Calosci Cortona, Edoardo e Paolo Mori.
Museo Diocesano Cortona, Murena Editrice, 2007, a cura di Paolo Bruschetti e di Maria Grazia Vaccari.
Museo Diocesano di Cortona, Guida al museo e scoperta del territorio, Ed Polistampa 2012, a cura di Serena Nocentini.
Madonna and Child
Date: ca. 1336
Technique and Materials: Tempera on a wooden panel
Size 102 × 67
Artist: Niccolò di Segna
Madonna and Child and Saints Nicholas and Margaret of Hungary
Date: 1434
Technique and Materials: Tempera on a wooden panel
Size 134 × 244
Artist: Stefano di Giovanni known as Sassetta (Cortona? end of the 14th century – Siena 1450?)
On the frame are the Archangel Gabriel, Agnus Dei, and the Virgin Announced.
Lamentation over the Dead Christ
Date: 1502
Technique and Materials: tempera on a wooden panel
Size 270 × 240 predella 235 × 29
Artist: Luca Signorelli (Cortona 1450 1523) On the predella, scenes from the life of Jesus
Communion of the Apostles
Date: 1512
Technique and Materials: tempera on a wooden panel
Size 235 × 220
Artist: Luca Signorelli (Cortona 1450 – 1523)
Miracle of Saint Francis of Paola
Date: 1750
Technique and Materials: Oil on canvas
Size: 250 × 180
Artist: Francesco Cappella known as Daggiù (Venice 1711 – Bergamo 1774)
Exterior of the Diocesan Museum in Cortona
Crucifixion
Dating: third decade of the 14th century
Technique and Materials: Tempera on a wooden panel
Size 380 × 274
Artist: Pietro Lorenzetti (Siena ca. 1280 – 1348)
Annunciation
Date: 1434-1436
Technique and Materials: Tempera on a wooden panel
Size: 175 × 180
Artist: Guido di Pietro, Fra Giovanni da Fiesole later known as Fra Angelico (Vicchio di Mugello ca. 1395 – Rome 1455)
Madonna and Child with Saints Francis, Louis of Toulouse, Bonaventure and Anthony of Padua
Date: ca. 1510 – 1515
Technique and Materials: tempera on a wooden panel
Size 157 × 155
Artist: Luca Signorelli (Cortona ca. 1450 – 1523) and assistants
Our Lady of the Assumption with Saints John the Baptist and Catherine of Alexandria
Technique and Materials: Oil on canvas
Size 203 × 139
Attributed to: Federico Zuccari (Sant’Angelo in Vado 1540 – Ancona 1609)
Lamentation over the Dead Christ
Date: first half of the 16th century
Technique and Materials: polychrome terracotta
Artist: Bernardino Covatti?
Madonna and Child with Saints Matthew, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, and Mary Magdalene
Date: 1438
Technique and Materials: Tempera on a wooden panel
Size 218 × 240
Artist: Guido di Pietro, then called Fra Giovanni da Fiesole known as Fra Angelico (Vicchio di Mugello ca. 1395 – Rome 1455)
On the frame: the Archangel Gabriel, the Virgin Announced, and Agnus Dei; on the predella: Episodes from the Life of Saint Dominic.
Assumption of the Virgin with Saints Benedict and Scholastica
Date: 1470-ca. 1475
Technique and Materials: Tempera on canvas
Size 340 × 237
Artist: Pietro Antonio Dei known as Bartolomeo della Gatta (Florence 1448 – Florence? 1502)
Assumption of the Virgin
Date: 1519-1520
Technique and Materials: tempera on a wooden panel
Size 270 × 212
Artist: Luca Signorelli (Cortona ca. 1450 – 1523) and his workshop
Ecstasy of Saint Margaret of Cortona
Date: 1701
Technique and Materials: Oil on canvas
Size 230 × 182
Artist: Giuseppe Maria Crespi (Bologna 1665-1747)
Abraham and Isaac – detail of the frescoes from the Company of Jesus
Artist: Cristoforo Gherardi
Opening hours
1 April to 31 October: every day 10 a.m.-7 p.m.;
November 1 to March 31: Tue-Sun 10 a.m.-5 p.m..
Closed on Mondays and 25 December.
Tickets
Full price: € 5.00
reduced price € 3,00 for groups of more than 15 people and children 6-12 years of age
reduced price € 1.00 for school groups
Free of charge for children under 6 years of age.
Services
guided tours
educational workshops
For guided tours, educational workshops, and educational/cultural activities: phone 0575.60.14.10 or 63.72.35