Museo Civico Antonio Parazzi

Civic museum of Viadana in the MuVi cultural hub, with archaeology, Renaissance terracottas, a picture gallery, ancient textiles, fossils and minerals.

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About the museum

The Museo Civico Antonio Parazzi is dedicated to the history and archaeology of the Viadana area. It was founded in 1880 on the initiative of Monsignor Antonio Parazzi (1823–1899), a priest, historian and local archaeologist, who gathered finds, works of art and documents from the area. Since 2007 it has been housed in the MuVi cultural hub, at Via Manzoni 4, in the former primary school building constructed in 1908, which opened as a cultural centre in 2003.

The route is divided into five sections. The archaeology section contains finds from excavations at Viadana and neighbouring municipalities, from the late Neolithic to the Roman age, including Egyptian bronze statuettes and Etruscan-Italic objects. Next comes the Renaissance section, with around a hundred terracottas made in kilns of the Po Valley, sgraffito pottery and majolica from the 15th to the 19th century.

The picture gallery documents the Viadana school of painting from the 16th to the 19th century, linked to the presence of Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli, together with detached frescoes and painted ceiling panels. The route ends with a collection of ancient textiles, related to the production of Viadana linen and the cultivation of safflower (zafferanone), and a section on palaeontology and mineralogy with marine fossils and crystals. The museum runs guided tours, workshops and lectures.

Highlights

Archaeological finds from the Neolithic to the Roman age
Egyptian bronze statuettes and Etruscan-Italic bronzes
Around a hundred Renaissance terracottas from the Po Valley
Picture gallery with the Viadana school of painting and works linked to Bedoli
Ancient textiles and the history of Viadana linen
Section of fossils and minerals