Angel with purple wings and richly decorated robe (15th century AD). Detail of a fresco located in the cloister of the Monumental Complex of San Francesco, above the access door to the church from the cloister itself. The work dates back to the period of monumental flowering of the cult building and of maximum diffusion of the Franciscan order in the city.

In the apse of the Church of San Francesco in Cuneo stands the cast of the imposing crucifix from the mid-fifteenth century, identified with the sculpture that in the Middle Ages stood out in the presbytery of the church. The original work is preserved in the parish church of Borgo San Giuseppe and was found during the cataloging campaign promoted in 2005 by the Italian Episcopal Conference. Of Ligurian production and dated to the mid-fifteenth century, the crucifix underwent numerous vicissitudes over time: in the seventeenth century, when the altar and tabernacle were rebuilt, it was transferred to the chapel of the Cruciata, on the right aisle of the monument; following the Napoleonic suppressions it then passed to the nearby Hospital of Santa Croce, where it was hung first in the chapel and then in the wards. Here he remained until 1961, when he was transported to the new parish on the banks of the Gesso. The detailed description of the anatomical details of the dying Christ, which highlights the muscular tension, the wrinkles of the skin torn by nails, the precise definition of the veins still pulsating on the belly and arms, of the hair with twisted locks and of the gaunt face, produce a strong evocative power and highlight, on the part of the author, identified in the sculptor Giacobino d'Ormea, a discreet but precise search for pathos.

In tomb 454 of the Lombard necropolis of Sant’Albano Stura (full 7th century AD) a second type imitation gold coin of Maurice Tiberius was found, the date of which could go back to the full 7th century. On the right there is the image of the Byzantine emperor Maurice Tiberius (582-602 AD), with a diadem and cloak; on the reverse the figure of Victory: frontal, with open wings, holding a crown and a cruciferous globe. A precious symbol of status, the coin was to accompany the deceased to the beyond, qualifying the degree of wealth.

The Lombard woman buried in tomb 563 in the necropolis of Sant’Albano Stura wore two small fibulae (brooches). The first, of transalpine ancestry, is in gilded silver, decorated at the ends with small heads of birds of prey and in the central part with a red garnet. The second instead refers to the Christian Mediterranean culture: there is depicted a man, seated with his legs bent and a three-quarter face (perhaps veiled). In front of him stands a rooster on a tree. It is probably St. Peter, who denies Christ three times before the crowing of the cock.

The hurdy-gurdy in engraved, decorated and painted wood is of French manufacture and can be dated to the late 19th century. This specimen has eight strings, also decorated for the neck, with an anthropomorphic head and can be played by only one musician. In the Middle Ages, the hurdy-gurdy was one of the instruments of excellence in sacred music, resulting in the main instrument in accompanying Gregorian chants. Usually two players were needed: one to maneuver the wheel, the other to operate. The organistrum worked by spinning a wheel, operated by a crank, a sort of continuous arc, which rubbed a variable number of strings, from a minimum of six to a maximum of eight. Over the centuries the hurdy-gurdy changed its function and size. From being an ideal instrument for the performance of sacred music, it became indispensable for popular music.

Wedding procession in Casteldelfino (1936) is an oil painting on canvas that Euclide Milano commissioned to the painter Giulio Boetto during the training period of the Civic Museum. The intent of the founder of the civic institution was to testify, through five large documentary canvases, the festive and religious traditions of the Cuneo valleys. The work represented here is distinguished by the realistic and marked colors of the human figures that compose it and by the architecture in the background: the arch of the portal of a cult building with characteristics very common to the little churches in the valley.

The dance of the sabers (Bal do Saber) is another of the five canvases commissioned to Giulio Boetto for the museum being built (1936). The scene represented is inspired by the armed dance which was performed in Castelletto Stura, Bagnasco and Fenestrelle in the province of Cuneo. The medieval origin of this type of performance is attested by numerous historical sources and the presence, in a corner of the canvas, of the detail of the Moorish player, refers to the period of the Saracen invasion. The stylistic features of Boetto are once again to be found in the lively color combinations and in the landscape details.

In the 1930s Euclid Milano, the first founder of the Museum, bought, thanks to a contribution from the Province of Cuneo, just under fifty cloth dolls from the Lenci company in Turin. The dolls arrived in Cuneo in their natural state and were dressed according to the customs of the valley by tailors and teachers of the Cuneo area. The dressing of the spouses of Acceglio (Valle Maira), represented here, was handled by the Rivero spouses, who carefully reproduced the bride's traditional gunèl a cugns, black dress up to the feet, made with a locally produced woolen fabric. called drap.

The collection of traditional clothes of the Monumental Complex of San Francesco - Civic Museum of Cuneo is articulated and complex, as it presents works of different origins. Alongside the so-called "folk costumes", there are cases in which elements from popular and traditional clothing, such as caps, ribbons or shawls, have been combined with clothes that are linked to contemporary fashion, as illustrated by the example of the dress festivity of the Stura Valley, where apron and bonnet are added to an almost bourgeois dress for decoration and finishing.

The traditional clothes of the Alpine valleys surrounding Cuneo, thanks to accessories such as the shawl represented here, have always been the identity card of the wearer. Two constants can be identified in the colorful variety of models and ornaments that characterize the shapes of the ethnographic costume in the province of Cuneo: the marked difference between the mountains and the plains and the use of easy-to-find fabrics (cloth, velvet, hemp above all) combined with a proud desire to embellish with more precious fabrics, such as silk, lace and, in this case, colored embroidery on silk.

The woman buried here was probably of foreign origin, perhaps she came from communities in the Aosta Valley or Val di Susa. Its kit was in fact made up of two large belt seals in damascened iron with skein weaves: the shape and decoration of the plates refer to productions widespread in the Merovingian kingdom beyond the Alps. A prestigious glass chalice, characterized by a large bowl and a narrow foot, confirms the high social background of the deceased.

Four bobbins are also part of the civic patrimony of Cuneo, two of which dated to 1747 and 1847. It is therefore possible to follow almost the entire workmanship of the art of bobbin lace with precision: from spinning to bobbin work. The nineteenth-century example reproduced here is one of the best preserved, in carved and engraved wood; in the central part it bears the symbol of the rose of the Alps or rosace, particularly dear to the valleys of Occitan culture.

Typical ornaments of the traditional festive clothes of the Cuneo valleys are jewels, "golds" or "joys": hearts or crosses more or less worked, in gold or gilded silver, tied around the neck with a doubled black velvet ribbon, down to the chest. In this example the cross is gilded and refers to popular devotion, the ribbon is embroidered with floral decoration in bright colors. These accessories were combined with almond-shaped earrings or "dorini", necklaces in thin gold foils, baptismal medals flaunted with religious awe.

In silk taffeta and linen thread, the dress is made up of a fitted bodice, collar decorated with a ribbon and bobbin lace, also applied to the wrists. The shawl, added later, is in liserè satin cloth; the apron is made up of two purple taffeta sheets. The black color is not surprising: a shade that can also be adapted to other occasions.