Galleria Parmeggiani

About the museum

The Galleria Parmeggiani brings together three 19th-century collections in a palazzo in the Gothic-Renaissance style, built between 1925 and 1928 to a design by the Reggio engineer Ascanio Ferrari to house the collections of Luigi Parmeggiani. The building incorporates a 15th-century portal from Valencia and follows the layout of a late-19th-century house museum, inspired by the Paris home of the artist Ignacio Leon y Escosura.

Parmeggiani, a native of Reggio, lived abroad for a long time and worked in Paris with Escosura in an antiques gallery; after his friend's death in 1902 he continued the business under the name Louis Marcy, also trading in objects in period styles. In 1932 Luigi and his wife Anna Detti sold the palazzo and the collections to the Comune (municipality) of Reggio Emilia, receiving in exchange a life annuity that ensured the gallery would open.

The rooms house paintings of the Flemish, Franco-English and Spanish schools, furniture, ceramics, textiles, costumes, goldsmiths' work and weapons, as well as works by Escosura and Cesare Detti. The 1988 restoration kept the original display.

Highlights

• Gothic-Renaissance palazzo built to house the collection
• Sala delle Armi and Sala dei Gioielli
• Sala dei Costumi and Sala dei Velluti with historic textiles
• Paintings of the Flemish, Franco-English and Spanish schools
• Rooms dedicated to Escosura and Cesare Detti

Permanent exhibition

• Collezioni Escosura, Marcy e Detti – Historic rooms with paintings, furniture, costumes, textiles, weapons and goldsmiths' work, arranged like a 19th-century house museum.

Operated by

Comune di Reggio Emilia – Musei Civici

Visitors per year

approx. 43,051

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission to the Musei Civici venues is free. Paid guided tours cost €5 per person (minimum 7 participants) or €35 flat rate for groups of fewer than 7 people.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: no information
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The website of the Musei Civici refers to an accessibility statement and to the plan for removing architectural barriers (P.E.B.A.), with no details for this venue.

Kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

The Musei Civici offer activities for families and schools (for example “Il museo dei ragazzi”); no specific programmes for the gallery are published.

Getting there & parking

The gallery is in the centre of Reggio Emilia, at Corso Cairoli 2.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit