Museo Civico

The Civic Museum is housed in the former Dominican convent, adjacent to the Church of St. Dominic. Founded in 1465, the building was damaged by the earthquake of 1662. It was the Church, for a long time, the natural guardian of the works by the artist Mattia Preti, until the eight paintings of "Calabrese Knight of Malta" were stolen, in 1970. In 1988 the building and the works in it kept were restored, and the Church was reopened for worship. Today, the exhibition is divided into two sections (A and B): the first houses the paintings of two great protagonists of Secentesca brothers, Gregory and Mattia Preti. The first, a "Saint Hyacinth" and "St. Vincent Ferrer"; the second, the "Lady of the Angels with the SS. Michael the Archangel and Francis of Assisi", a "St. Jerome" and a sketch depicting the SS. Peter and Paul. In the following rooms, as well as sculptures, there are paintings by Neapolitan and Calabrian artists of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, including, Giovan Battista Spinelli, Antonio and Giovanni Sarnelli, Mario Minniti, Antonio De Bellis. Follow the rooms dedicated to the art or silky to the most recent acquisitions of the Museum, including a preparatory study by Preti for "The Apotheosis of St. Peter Celestine." In the second area, dedicated to permanent exhibitions and temporary exhibitions, are exhibited works by Carmelo Savelli, Ercole Drei, Francesco Guerrieri, Lia Drei, Mimmo Rotella, Mirella Bentivoglio, Concept Pozzati, Giuseppe Gallo and Francesco Correggia.