Tour of museums
The tour of the museums is meant to be lived slowly. This walk among the museums of the MIRA network (Omero Tactile Museum, City Picture Gallery, City Museum, National Archaeological Museum of the Marche Region and Diocesan Museum) is a “slow” discovery of the artistic attractions of the city. Visitors can enjoy the pleasure of the itinerary at a walking pace. Walking through the five stops, visitors will be able to appreciate the artistic heritage that surrounds the cultural offer of the museums and discover the high quality of the artworks displayed in the collections.
The itinerary
Starting from the Court of the Vanvitelli Stately Building, the tour will soon reach the first stop: the Omero Tactile Museum. The tour guides will walk you through historical buildings and monuments, pointing out the most interesting things to see along the way. The professional tour guides are part of the Cooperativa Opera, commissioned by the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Municipality of Ancona.
In each museum, the groups will be welcomed by the internal staff who will introduce them to the collections with a general overview and an in-depth description of an exemplifying artwork for each museum. Visitors will enjoy the tour consciously, in no rush.
The tour will end at the Diocesan Museum. After the walk, anyone who wants to visit the museums again can do so on Sundays (during the opening hours).
THE ARTWORKS
Mater amabilis
Valeriano Trubbiani / Omero Tactile Museum
“Mater amabilis” (1988-89) is a fine example of Valeriano Trubbiani’s imaginative world of the bestiary. This subject is very dear to this artist from the Marche region and also features in the most famous example of the “Mater Amabilis” series, situated in Piazza Pertini (1995). The unlikely pairing of a mother hippopotamus and a young girl is tempered by the feeling of motherhood which pervades the entire composition and ties the human, animal and natural world together in playful harmony.
Sarcophagus of Tito Flavio Gorgonio
Diocesan Museum
The early Christian sarcophagus, datable to the fourth century, is made of marble, carved with scenes from the Holy Scriptures and the life of Christ. The deceased was the representative of the Roman emperor in Ancona: his name was Titus Flavius Gorgonius, as the cartouche in the centre of the lid shows, engraved with the dedicatory inscription and two winged geniuses on the side. The fascinating decoration is imbued with symbolism and artistry, and has reliefs on four sides. The front part of the sarcophagus shows a “traditio legis” (transmission of the law) scene: Christ is in the middle and is handing over the new law to the apostles, with Gorgonius and his wife at his feet. On the front of the lid is one of the first and rare representations of the Nativity of Jesus.
Scale model of the city of Ancona
City Museum
The scale model of the city, in solid maple wood, was realised by students and teachers of the Art School “Edgardo Mannucci” of Ancona. The works started in 1996 and took about three years to complete. Made on a scale of 1:500, it is based on a thorough study of the Map of the Dicastery of Census of 1844. Before construction, the students carried out meticulous research of historical, photographic and graphic documents of 150 years ago. The model gives an image of Ancona at the dawn of great urban changes that would substantially change the geography of the city.
Oinochoe
National Archaeological Museum of the Marche Region
This oenochoe, a jug used to contain and mix wine, was found in a burial place in San Severino (Macerata). It is a beautiful example of the flourishing success achieved by the Picenian princes during the 7th century B.C. It confirms that the region was part of a network of commercial exchanges, with social and iconographic models also shared by the Phoenicians and Greeks, that involved the Mediterranean area during this period (called for such reasons “Orientalizing”).
The oenochoe has a body made of ostrich eggshell, finely carved with friezes arranged on several levels, separated by bands of intertwined upside-down arches and lotus flowers, depicting fantastic animals interspersed with palmettes. The neck and foot were made of perishable material, while the mouth represents a female face in ivory: the woman squeezes with her hands brought to eye level two braids coming down the sides of her face. Some gold applications make the object even richer.
Attributed to Etruscan artisans with references to Phoenician-Cypriot patterns, this oenochoe is dated between the end of the seventh and the beginning of the sixth century BC.
Gozzi Altarpiece
Titian / City Picture Gallery
The painting was commissioned by Alvise Gozzi (or Gozze), a noble Croatian merchant who was active in Ancona, for the altar of the church of St. Francis in Alto. In the foreground, the donor is depicted on his knees as he witnesses the Virgin Mary and Child ascending into heaven. On either side, there are Saints Francis and Blaise: Saint Francis shows his stigmatised hand to his chest with great involvement while in the other hand holds a thin cross; Saint Blaise follows Gozzi’s gaze with his outstretched arm and body to indicate the vision. In the background, we can see the lagoon of Venice while at the feet of the characters there is a cartouche with the name of the author and the date.
