Estense Lapidary Museum, Modena
Estense Lapidary Museum (Museo lapidario estense) in Modena is the first public city museum. This is a very original museum of the history of the city, from the foundation of the Roman colony to the 19th century. It represents the story, imprinted in the stone, inspired by examples of similar museums of the Vatican and Verona. This institution is really very quiet and monumental, requiring respect.
History of the museum
The museum was opened in 1828 by the Duke of Modena Francesco IV d'Este in his own palace. Its core was a private collection of the ruling family, and Alfonso II d'Este began to collect in the 16th century. The family collected items from excavations in the local towns of Brescello and Novellara, or bought them from other nobles. After the opening of the museum, generous donations from the clergy and nobles began to flow. After the collection was expanded in 1830, the director of the museum Carlo Malmusi made the first catalog.
After the unification of Italy, the museum collection increased in size again, and in 1897 Arsenio Crespellani created a new catalog. A little earlier, in 1894, the museum moved to the current place, the Museum Palace. And in 1938 the establishment was radically reconstructed thanks to the efforts of the director of Cesare Giorgi.
Exposition of the museum
The museum is divided into 23 parts, including 329 different artifacts that tell the story of Modena, great attention is paid to the Roman city of Mutina. Among them are reliefs, public epigraphs, statues of the gods, important series of funerary monuments (steles, sarcophagi decorated with portraits, figurative scenes and symbolic images). The Roman part of the museum harmoniously flows into medieval and modern history. There is a whole gallery of monuments dedicated to the famous inhabitants of Modena – noblemen, lawyers, doctors, writers, historians, artists. They cover the period from 7 to 19 centuries. All this “stone” history is placed on the first floor of the museum's palace, under the covered porticoes of the courtyard.
How to get there
The Estense Lapidary Museum is located in the historic center of Modena, in the Museum Palace, on Largo Porta Sant'Agostino, 337. In the same building, there are civilian museums – the archaeological and art museum. Opposite the palace there are bus stops Sant'Agostino Museo (routes 6, 7, 11A) and Ospedale Estense (routes 2, 5, 13).
Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 19:30, Saturday from 8:30 to 19:30, Sunday from 10:00 to 19:30. Phone number: (+39) 059 4395711.
Free admission.
