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Civic Museums of the Visconti Castle verified

Pavia, Lombardy, Italy closed Visit museumarrow_right_alt

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Capital with male figures
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Telamone with dragons
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mosaic of Sant'Eustachio
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Main portal of Santa Maria del Popolo
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Styphore Lion
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Leone Stiloforo
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Antonio Mantegazza - Pietà Mantegazza
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Apsidal fresco of Sant'Agata al Monte
Capital with male figures
Telamone with dragons
mosaic of Sant'Eustachio
Main portal of Santa Maria del Popolo
Styphore Lion
Leone Stiloforo
Antonio Mantegazza - Pietà Mantegazza
Apsidal fresco of Sant'Agata al Monte

Other works on display

Description

Mosaic with scenes from the Martyrdom of Saint Eustace - considered among the most beautiful preserved in the West - is also the only known case of such a large mosaic surface dedicated to the hagiographic depiction of the events of a single saint. The earliest evidence of mosaic decorations in Pavese dress dates back to the first half of the fourteenth century, when the Pavese cleric Opicino de Canistris reported that many churches in the city were equipped with mosaic floors. If there are very few examples left on site, fragments of mosaic decoration from the lost winter cathedral of Santa Maria del Popolo, from the area of Sant’Invenzio, and from that of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Stuoie have converged in the Romanesque section of our museum. Various fragments come from Santa Maria del Popolo, brought to light between 1854 and 1936 during the demolition of the building. The southern nave of the church housed the story of the Martyrdom of Saint Eustace with scenes not in sequence and with the characters involved recognizable thanks to inscriptions. The central portion depicts the stages of martyrdom, the saint is escorted by three torturers (speculatores) in the presence of the emperor Hadrian, identified by the typical regalia (crown, scepter and cloak). Subsequently, the saint is fed to a beast that is difficult to identify (only the legs can be read), always in the presence of the sovereign. The upper register depicts two carnifices also present at the martyrdom, while the panel on the ground is more difficult to interpret in which a figure with a fantastic animal on a leash heads towards others. The scenes are framed within false architectures in which fluted columns with leaf capitals support lowered arches.

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