Museum - Impruneta

The Basilica of Santa Maria all’Impruneta Museum

The Museum, opened in 1987, is located in the architectural site of Santa Maria Sanctuary.
The museum is divided into three sections; the miniature codices collection, the silver collection and the Liturgical vestments collection.

The silver collection is located into the upper part of the Sanctuary façade portico, built on 1634 on a Gherardo Silvani project.
The core collection comes from the donations to the Holy Virgin made at the time of the two processions of the Holy icon to Florence: in 1633, at the end of the plague, and in 1711, in the procession wanted by Cosimo III to prevent the end of the Medicis dynasty.
These artefacts on display are highly valuable as they are made of silver, rock crystal, gilded copper, not to mention the fact that they were made in the Florentine goldsmith workshops.

The miniature codices collection is located in the central room of the Sanctuary and consists of eleven miniature codices dating back to two different periods: seven from XIVth century, four from XVIth century. This is one of the main collections of Tuscany.

The liturgical vestments collection is the most recent addition to the museum. It consists of a collection of precious ornaments, with only copy extant, as the ‘capes’ in use for the Holy icon.

The whole Sanctuary and Museum building itself deserves a very detailed visit.
The Sanctuary was built on the old Impruneta parish church, dedicated in 1060, as the memorial tablet testifies by entrance of the church.
During the fourteenth century, with the cult of the holy icon, the building works of the Sanctuary begun with the large cloister and the canonica (vicarage). In the fifteenth century a second cloister was added to the complex that was also surrounded by walls, with rectangular towers as a result of which it looked like a fortress.
In the next centuries there were other additions: the polygonal apse, the porch in the façade and several rich details in interiors of the church, then seriously damaged in 1944 bombing.
In the Sanctuary you can admire works by Jacopo Chimenti, Matteo Rosselli, Giovanni Bilivert, Pietro Nelli, Pietro Tacca, Domenico Cresti, noteworthy della Robbia terracottas, the crucifixion by Luca della Robbia, the two small temples michelozzo style, the Antonio degli Agli bishop grave (XVth century).