Piazza Martiri Vissani - Visso - Tel. 0737/95200
The Museum-Art
Gallery was established by Ado Venanzangeli, Mayor of Visso in 1972, in
order to stop the stealing of works of art from the Churches of the municipal territory.
The collection has been placed in the Church of Sant'Agostino, built
around the year 1340 in Gothic style, with a charming tricuspidate
façade, rose window, and ogival portal with mullions. The seat has been
granted by the Administration of the Sanctuary of Macereto. As a matter
of fact, the collection is part of its heritage, and the Museum will be
ampliated in the near monastery. Open to the public since 1983, it
consists of more than two hundred works of art coming from the Churches
scattered in the country wards, and only partly belonging to the Town:
they are an interesting excursus in the art and culture of the Alto
Nera, from the 13th to the 18th century.
Of particular interest some wooden statues, among which the Madonna di
Fermatre, dating back to 1140; a Crucifix of the 14th century; the
Madonna di Macereto of the 15th century, some silver crosses dating
back from 14th to 18th century. Among the paintings, frescoes by Paolo from Visso (not. 1431 - 1481) and Madonna col Bambino, Santa Margherita e
Angeli by Orazio Gentileschi (about 1563 - 1638 or '46).
Via S. Agostino, 1 - Pievetorina - Tel. 0737/518032 (Museum) - 0737/51202 (Town Hall)
"Museo della nostra terra" is dedicated to the agricultural and breeding activities and represents the life and the work of the high hills
and mountains of Macerata. It is situated within the 15th century
S. Agostino Monastery, but it seems to be in a rural village
suspended in time. More than five thousand objects and tools are
displayed in model environments representing the farmhouse and the
workshop (barn, cellar, room, school, weaving and stock rearing hall,
the labs of the cooper, of the shoemaker, etc.) and inserted in a
collective social history following the earth's cycles. It is a unique
collection completed with a considerable documentation in texts and
pictures. The Mulino del Fiume,
detached seat of the Museum, is a characteristic 18th century building with a
small lake and a lock which is still working with its original
mechanisms: it is a great witness of the ancient processing of the
floury substances.
Via XX Settembre - Pievetorina - Tel. 0737/518045 (Parish Church) - 0737/51308 (Responsible person)
San Giovanni Church has been housing the art gallery since 1985,
when the building was used again after years of abandonment and
negligence. The Church seems to date back to 1603 when it was attached
to the Basilica Lateranense and had two altars; in 1724 the feast of
San Giovanni was celebrated in it with a solemn rite; in 1821 it was
used as town cementery; after 10 years the portal was closed and moved
on the southern side for the change of the road axis. The Church has a
wide circular apse, truss roof and façade built with local stones.
Among the many works of art of the Art Gallery, there are some altar
pieces coming from the destroyed Churches of Pomarolo and of San
Teodora; a Madonna col Bambino, Angeli e Santi di Girolamo Andrea De
Magistris (att. 1529-55) and, of great importance for the study of the
origins of the painting school camerinese, a cycle of frescoes dating
back to the second half of the 14th century, removed from the Pieve di
Santa Maria Assunta.