Like any museum, our museum has several highlights. In this section we present some of them, selected on the basis of their relevance. What they have in common is their strong connection to the Bracciano area. The Apollo of Vicarello for instance was found in an archaeological area within the municipality itself. The annunciation highlights the historical link between Bracciano and Florence, consolidated in 1553 by the marriage between Isabella de’ Medici and Paolo Giordano Orsini, Duke of Bracciano.
Highlights worth a visit: a stupendous marble sculpture Venus and Adonis, a 17th-century work by Cristoforo Stati and a fabulous Apollo from the Terme di Vicarello (2nd century A.D.).
M. Faraone. A visitor’s review
The sculpture was probably donated to the Community of Bracciano by Cristoforo Stati, a native of the town. The painter and biographer Giovanni Baglione wrote in 1642: ‘Christofano Braccianese has made a Venus and an Adonis of the finest marble, which can be found in Bracciano, naked figures so well sculpted, and so alive, that they will enchant anyone who looks at them’ (‘Vite de’ scultori, pittori et architetti’). The sculpture, preserved by the Odescalchi family, was restituted to the city by Prince Baldassarre in 1886 and placed in the town hall. It was rediscovered by art historian Valentino Martinelli in 1957, was dated to the early 17th century and presented as one of the masterpieces of Latium Mannerism.
Cristoforo Stati (1556-1619)
1600-1610
Marble
185 cm
In the museum you will find it in Room D: Art of commissioners and artists of Bracciano
The statue represents the god Apollo and comes from an archaeological site known as Vicarello (near Bracciano), where the Aquae Apollinares Novae, a thermal centre, were located in Roman times. The statue of the god Apollo was found in the northwest part of the nymphaeum of the baths in 1977. The bust is made of Pentelic (Greek) marble and depicts a young Apollo, beardless and wearing a cloak over his shoulders, closed by a rounded buckle. His left hand seems to be holding a rounded object, probably a torch, a typical iconographic element in representations of Apollo. The statue was probably more than two metres tall. Its prototype has been identified in the sculptural art of Attica from the 4th century BC.
Unknown author
2nd century AD
Marble
120 cm
In the museum you will find it in Room C: Art from the Roman and Early Christian periods.
The lunette, depicting the Annunciation, is a 19th-century copy of one by Andrea della Robbia around 1490 and exhibited in the Spedale degli Innocenti in Florence. A study by the museum revealed that the work was in the catalogue of the Florentine Cantagalli manufactory, which specialised in the production of Della Robbia. Ulisse Cantagalli, the owner, was a friend of Prince Baldassarre Odescalchi and may have donated the lunette to him. It is likely that the work arrived in Bracciano between 1888 and 1900. The lunette was defective from the time it was made due to a problem during its production, which is probably why it was never exhibited. It was left for over a century in the attics of the convent that now hosts the museum; rediscovered in the late 1990s, it was placed in the Museo Civico, which displayed it after careful restoration.
19th century
Tuscan Manufacture
Glazed terracotta
160×270 cm
In the museum you will find it in Room D: Art of commissioners and artists of Bracciano
The plate has a special significance due to the presence of an inscription on the rim: a Latin alphabet complete with its 21 signs, engraved before firing and painting. It is one of the oldest model alphabets of the Latin language, dating back to the second half of the 4th century B.C., in which the process of evolution can still be observed: some letters (A, E, L, S, X), are in a form that is evolving towards its final form. A pillar of Latin linguistic history, it was studied by Professor Lidio Gasperini, a key figure in national and local epigraphic culture, so the artefact has found its proper status in the archaeological world.
Second half 4th century BC
Ceretan production
Hazelnut clay with black glaze decoration
4.5 x 14 cm (rim diameter)
In the museum you will find it in Room B: Archaeology of the Etruscan Age
Museo Civico di Bracciano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The custom of covering cult statues dates back to earliest antiquity. Around the 16th century, under Spanish influence, these objects became widespread for processional purposes. In the early decades of the 20th century, the Church banned the use of ‘dressed Madonnas’, believing that mass-produced statues made of poor materials did not conform to liturgical norms. This Madonna was found in the late 1990s, during the restoration of the building, inside the Augustinian convent where the museum is located. It is possible that it is the Madonna carried in procession to Bracciano by the Augustinian friars on 15 August, from around 1715. In its last decoration, the Madonna was wearing a dress that can be dated around 1870, probably offered by a noblewoman.
Mannequin:
18th century
Lazio manufactory, wood, woven cotton and horsehair
160 cm
Dress:
First half 19th century (1840-1845)
Italian manufacture
Printed cotton muslin
Printed cotton muslin
In the museum you will find it in Room E: Religious art
Museo Civico di Bracciano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
