National Museums of Genoa - Palazzo Spinola

Palazzo Spinola is an ancient residence built at the end of the sixteenth century in the heart of the historic center of Genoa, donated to the Italian State by the Spinola marquises in 1958 with all the heritage preserved in it so that it could become a national museum.

The two main floors, finely frescoed, boast a precious collection of paintings , sculptures and furnishings including works by artists such as Joos van Cleve , Antoon Van Dyck , Giulio Cesare Procaccini, Luca Giordano , Guido Reni and Bernardo Strozzi .

An absolute masterpiece of the historical collection of Palazzo Spinola is the Ecce Homo by Antonello da Messina . 

In addition to precious consoles , refined mirrors , doors embroidered with gold and silver thread , on the mezzanine floor you can visit an exceptional example of historic nineteenth-century cuisine .

The last two floors of the building, heavily damaged by the bombings of the last war, on the indication of the marquises, became home to the National Gallery of Liguria , a space in which today works acquired over the years by the State with the aim of documenting the wealth of art in Genoa and Liguria from the Middle Ages to the mid-twentieth century. The ever-growing collection includes works by Giovanni Pisano , Rubens , Bernardo Strozzi , Giovanni Battista Paggi and many others. In the renovated spaces of the National Gallery of Liguria, precious pieces of Savonese ceramics , oriental porcelain and eighteenth-nineteenth century tableware are also preserved, which belonged to the Spinola marquises or entered the museum thanks to purchases, donations and deposits.

The residence is part of the "Palazzi dei Rolli" system and therefore since 2006 it has been recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Palazzo Spinola , with the National Gallery of Liguria which it houses, is part, together with Palazzo Reale, of the National Museums of Genoa , which can be visited with a single ticket , even on different days.