ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
Archaeological museum in the ancient monastery of Santa Chiara in San Gimignano
The Archaeological Museum of San Gimignano is located within the former monastery of Santa Chiara, which also houses the spezieria di Santa Fina, as well as a gallery of modern and contemporary art, called Raffaele de Grada. This museum is one of the most interesting in Tuscany in this respect, presenting Etruscan, Roman and medieval pieces discovered during excavations in the city and its surroundings. Its very extensive collection illustrates the history of San Gimignano from the Etruscan period to the 18th century.
The apothecary or pharmacy shop (spezieria di Santa Fina) was annexed in 1253 to the hospital of the same name, founded in the middle of the 13th century. It displays a collection of jars and old medicines (such as scorpion oil!) from a 16th century pharmacy, one of the oldest in Tuscany
The gallery of modern and contemporary art (galleria d'arte moderna e contemporanea Raffaele de Grada) occupies the second floor of the ancient monastery of Santa Chiara. Its permanent collection includes works from the 19th and 20th centuries. It includes paintings by Niccolò Cannicci, Renato Guttuso, Sergio Vacchi, Vinicio Berti, Carmelo Zotti, Luciano Bartolini, Marco Gastini, Raffaele de Grada, whose name has been given to the gallery, among others. Indeed, this Italian painter of Milanese origin (1885-1957), contemporary with the pictorial movement called Novecento, chose San Gimignano as his main place of inspiration after travelling throughout Europe.
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