Museo Schifanoia

About the museum

Palazzo Schifanoia was built around 1385, when the marquis Alberto V d’Este began numerous building projects in Ferrara, at the north-eastern corner of the walls, as a “delizia” (leisure residence) of the Este family. After a first alteration in 1391, a major extension was carried out from 1466 by Borso d’Este with the architect Pietro Benvenuto dagli Ordini, who added a floor. At the centre of the new wing was the Salone dei Mesi, decorated by painters directed by the humanist Pellegrino Prisciani. A last extension is due to Ercole I, to a design by Biagio Rossetti.

After the death of Ercole the palace changed hands several times. The decline began in the 16th century with the lease of 1582 and the Devolution of 1598; in the 18th century the decorated surfaces were whitewashed. The frescoes were rediscovered by the painter and restorer Giuseppe Saroli in 1820, and the recovery was completed in 1840. Since 1898 the palace has housed the Musei di Arte Antica di Ferrara; the 2012 earthquake made an extensive restoration and a new display necessary.

Opened in 2021, the museum extends over 850 square metres with 21 rooms and about 250 works, including sculptures, paintings, ceramics, precious objects, medals and illuminated codices. The route starts from the 14th-century wing, passes through the Salone dei Mesi and the rooms of the ages of Borso and Ercole I, and reaches the 17th and 18th centuries, with the collection of Cardinal Gian Maria Riminaldi.

Highlights

• Salone dei Mesi
• Alabaster polyptych
• Medal of Lionello
• Bible of Saint Christopher by Guglielmo Giraldi
• Bust of Leopoldo Cicognara by Antonio Canova

Permanent exhibition

• Museo Schifanoia – Twenty-one rooms with about 250 works, from the Salone dei Mesi to the rooms of the ages of Borso and Ercole I and the Riminaldi collection.

Founded

1350

Operated by

Comune di Ferrara

Visitors per year

approx. 57,816

Admission & discounts

Free also for holders of the MyFe Card, tourist guides and journalists with a card, and visitors on their birthday. Tickets are bought only at the museum ticket office; booking, which is free, is recommended.

Accessibility

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

The museum is fully accessible: lifts to the mezzanine and to the piano nobile (not directly connected to each other), an accessible garden and café, and accessible toilets with a changing table. Car park reserved for holders of disabled badges at number 4 via Scandiana. Available: a video guide in Sign Language, a tactile route, multisensory panels, a guide in AAC and a trimodal video.

Kids & families

• Baby changing facilities

Toilets with a changing table on the ground floor and on the mezzanine.

Getting there & parking

From the A13 Bologna–Padua motorway, take the Ferrara Sud or Ferrara Nord exit, then viale Alfonso d’Este.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop
• Lockers

Bookshop, café with garden and lockers on the ground floor. Small dogs are admitted if carried in arms or in a carrier.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit