Museo del Tesoro di Santa Maria Maggiore

About the museum

The treasury museum was set up in autumn 2017 in the vast Romanesque matroneum above the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The matroneum had been closed during the 17th-century extension works and, in the first decade of the 21st century, had hosted exhibitions of modern art and the exhibition of the choir’s wood inlays (tarsie) by Lorenzo Lotto. The museum belongs to the Fondazione MIA, heir to the Congregazione della Misericordia Maggiore, owner of the basilica.

The display presents a selection of the most representative works of sacred goldwork and liturgical vestments kept in the basilica’s sacristies, together with richly embroidered ecclesiastical garments and the fresco of Sant’Alessandro detached from the church’s interior wall. There are also some of the original 14th-century statues by Giovanni da Campione, which have been replaced on the porches by copies to protect them from decay.

The entrance is in the south transept of the basilica, near the door of the red lions, and leads to the matroneum through the south apse. Along the way one can also admire the large 14th-century frescoes with the Madonna enthroned and the Nativity.

Highlights

• Sacred goldwork and liturgical vestments from the basilica’s sacristies
• Original 14th-century statues by Giovanni da Campione
• 14th-century frescoes in the apse of the matroneum
• Fresco of Sant’Alessandro detached from the basilica
• Setting of the Romanesque matroneum

Permanent exhibition

• Tesoro della Basilica – Permanent display of sacred goldwork, vestments and sculptural fragments in the ancient Romanesque matroneum.

Founded

2017

Operated by

Fondazione MIA – Congregazione della Misericordia Maggiore

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