Museo d’arte sacra di Fiesole

Museum of sacred goldsmiths’ work in the ancient chapel of San Jacopo, formerly the oratory of the Bishop’s Palace of Fiesole, with over 50 works from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century.

Opening hours unknown

Directions

Limited operations. According to the Museionline listing (March 2023) the museum can only be visited by groups by reservation; other sources state that it is not open to visitors.

About the museum

The museum is housed in the ancient chapel of San Jacopo, formerly the oratory of the Bishop’s Palace of Fiesole, built by Bishop Jacopo Bavaro (1024–1038) and enlarged in the 14th century. During restoration work on the building, walled-up windows and wall decorations from the 18th and 19th centuries came to light, and a large fresco of the Coronation of the Virgin by Bicci di Lorenzo, datable to around 1440, was restored.

The collections come from the Cathedral and other properties of the Diocese of Fiesole, in particular from the parish churches of the area. The more than fifty works on display document, from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, the most significant phases of sacred goldsmiths’ work in the Florentine area, from the late Gothic to the Renaissance, and from the Baroque to Neoclassicism.

Among the most important pieces are the mitre of Bishop Salutati (around 1460), known as “mitria di san Romolo” after the patron saint of Fiesole and still used on the annual feast; a gilded copper chalice with 15th-century enamels; and the processional cross of Girolamo di Martino Spigliati (1568–69), with enamels inspired by Moorish motifs. From the 17th century come a silver monstrance embossed and chased in 1671 and a chalice by the Florentine goldsmith Francesco Vandi from Nipozzano.

Highlights

Mitre of Bishop Salutati, known as “mitria di san Romolo”
Processional cross by Girolamo di Martino Spigliati (1568–69)
Gilded copper chalice with 15th-century enamels
Silver monstrance of 1671
Fresco by Bicci di Lorenzo in the chapel