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Villa Guinigi Museum
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Buildings, such as Villa Guinigi, now home to the National Museum and the
Guinigi Tower, still bear witness to the great power that Guingi
family held. In 1438, a conspiracy put an end to their power, when peace
with Florence was supported militarily by the Visconti of Milan.
The National Museum of Villa Guinigi is one of the hidden gems of the city and
is located in Via della Quarquonia, one of the oldest and most
distinguished buildings in Lucca. This is one of the rarest examples of Tuscan
villas existing from the 1400s.
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 Paolo
Guinigi, wealthy Lord of Lucca, spent a fortune building
this impressive brick palace. The main façade is
characterised by a long loggia and a succession of three
Gothic window openings (trefoils), with arches resting on
slender white columns (as you can see in the picture). The
building was to be a sort of country manor, located
initially, in 1413, just outside the city walls, near Porta
San Gervasio. The interior rooms, built around a Central
Hall, are spacious and, at the time, were decorated with
murals.
 The art collections on display tell the story of the
history of Lucca, from the first settlements of Etruscan origin
up to the contemporary age. The museum itself is divided into
chronological floors. The journey through the history and art of
the city begins on the ground floor with a presentation of the
archaeological remains of the Etruscan necropolis discovered in
1982, cinerary vessels in San Concordio, as well as remnants
from Roman monuments and houses. The upper floors display
thirteenth-century masterpieces like La Croce painted by
Berlinghiero Berlinghieri, fifteenth century works such as la
Pietà by Matteo Civitali and Allegoria dell'Immacolata
Concezione e San Biagio e Sant'Eustachio by Giorgio Vasari.
Other important works of the 1500s include Il Dio Padre fra
Santa Maria Maddalena e Santa Caterina da Siena by Fra
Bartolomeo or La Madonna con Bambino e Santi by Amico Aspertini;
a Bolognese painter who painted frescoes in the Basilica of San
Frediano. The artistic and historical journey ends with
eighteenth-century works including L'Estasi di Santa Caterina da
Siena by the Lucchese painter Pompeo Batoni, perhaps the most
celebrated Italian painters of the second half of the 1700s.
Also from this period are the paintings of Girolamo Scaglia,
Antonio Felix, the latter the official portrait painter for the
de ' Medici Court. Other works by Batoni are located in Palazzo
Mansi, on the second floor, where the exhibits continue up to
the 20th century. At Villa Guinigi exhibits end at the end of
the 1700s. The museum documents the works of local and foreign
artists, living and working in Lucca under ecclesiastical or
secular orders.
Museo Nazionale Villa Guinigi
Via della Quarquonia
Entrance: 4,00 euro - 2,00 euro (18-25 years)
Free entrance under 18 and over 65
from martedì to saturday from 8.30 to 19.30 (last entrance
19.00)
Sunday, Monday, closed
Check by phoning
Tel: +39 0583496033
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