Marble Renaissance in Savona. Guided tour of Savona’s museums-28-29 September 2024

On the occasion of the European Heritage Days, promoted by the Ministry of Culture and dedicated this year to the theme ‘Heritage on the way’, the museums of Savona, in addition to adhering to the initiative by opening their doors with free admission, are offering a guided tour in several stages: Marble Renaissance in Savona.

The Della Rovere funerary monument commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV in 1481 to honour his parents inside the Sistine Chapel will be the first stop on a fascinating tour of the precious Renaissance marbles housed in Savona’s museum complexes.

Exceptional testimony of the Renaissance in Liguria, this artefact was the model for two other prestigious marble monuments set up inside the convent church of San Domenico al Priamar, the Sansoni mausoleum (1490) and the Spinola mausoleum (1520): dismantled following the destruction of the Dominican convent, their partial refurbishment at the Archaeological Museum constitutes the second stop of the visit.

The sarcophagus of the Sansoni mausoleum, richly decorated with floral festoons and serpentiform animals and a refined grille motif, has instead found shelter on the ground floor of the Palazzo degli Anziani, today the access room of the adjacent Brandale tower: our third stop.

Our last stop will be in front of the first chapel on the left of the basilica of the Sanctuary of Nostra Signora della Misericordia where the marbles that make up the altar still come from the Sansoni mausoleum (free visit, without guide, during church opening hours, 7.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and free admission for both days to the Sanctuary Museum from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.).

At the same time, the Pinacoteca Civica proposes for the two days a focus on the majestic 15th- and 16th-century polyptychs it preserves, while the Museo della Ceramica offers an in-depth look at Renaissance ceramics in the splendid setting of the late 15th-century decoration of the building in which it is located.

The succession of the various stages is only suggested, the tour can be partial or divided over the two days. Each stage is in fact a separate one: at the time indicated in the programme there will be a museum operator to explain the works in front of them.

The maximum capacity for each stage is 20 people (in the event of a larger turnout, more shifts can be organised).