The splendid monumental palace of the Malatestas is now home to the Civic Museum - Archaeological Museum and Art Gallery of the Malatestian Palace. Inside, a collection of extraordinary variety, from archaeological finds of ancient civilisations, to precious 18th century paintings, to modern and contemporary works, offers a unique excursus into the history and art of the city.
The Archaeological Museum and Art Gallery of Fano was established in 1898 and set up in the north-eastern wing of the Palazzo Malatestiano. The Palace, built by Pandolfo III Malatesti between 1413 and 1421, remained the residence of the Malatesti family until the collapse of the lordship in 1463. Over the years, the palace has undergone a series of transformations and significant structural modifications also due to fires and Napoleonic looting. Its history is marked by the devastation caused by the earthquake in 1874, which reduced the palace to ruins. Gradually, it began to resurrect thanks to the restorations that took place in 1930 and 1957. The first example of Renaissance architecture, the palace today houses the Civic Museum - Archaeological Museum and Art Gallery of the Malatestian Palace which houses the Archaeological Section with finds from eras from protohistory to Romanity; the Ceramics Section, with a large collection of ceramics ranging from the 14th to the 19th century; the Numismatics Section which contains collections of Roman coins, from the ancient Fano Mint and medals from the Malatesta period; the Art Gallery, which occupies several rooms of the building.
MALATESTIAN PALACE MUSEUM – ARCHAEOLOGICAL SECTION
Set up on the ground floor of the suggestive Palazzo Malatestiano, the Archaeological Section allows you to take a journey back to the dawn of Fano civilisation, from prehistory to Roman times. The museum mainly displays local finds, coming both from private collections and from the antiques market. The first arrangement was made by Count Gregorio Tomani Amiani in 1882. About ten years later the archaeological finds were placed in the eastern wing of the palace. The majority of the collection includes prehistoric, protohistoric and Roman finds from the Fano area and surrounding areas. The sculptural evidence relating to the colony of Fanum Fortunae is significant, including in particular the statue of the emperor Claudius and a female head identified with Octavia, found in the convent of San Filippo in 1899. Inside the collection it is then possible to observe slabs tombstones and lapidary collections, floor mosaics and milestones. Among the most important floor mosaics is the Panther mosaic, which can be seen in the under-portico of the palace dating back to the mid-2nd century AD, discovered in the 1950s and belonging to a domus. The black and white mosaic was detached and reassembled in the place where it resides today. It consists of a rich geometric decoration and a central emblem depicting a panther ridden by a winged character attributable to the Dionysian context, within a frame of vine shoots. Another mosaic of particular value, made up of tiles of similar color and style, is the mosaic of the God Neptune, standing at the helm of a quadriga driven by sea horses. The God is represented naked, bearded and with the trident in his right hand and the cloak resting, fluttering, on his left arm. The horses, however, are arranged symmetrically, two on the right and two on the left, adapting to the circular shape of the mosaic. Among the finds of particular importance is the famous Graccano stone, found in the 18th century in the San Cesareo area and which testifies to the application of the Lex Sempronia also in the Fanestre area.
The statuary collection is completed by the large mutilated statue depicting the emperor Claudius and some heads in stone and marble, among which the splendid female head stands out, a portrait of Octavia, sister of Augustus, and the very refined statue of Fortuna in fine Lunense marble dating back to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Headless and limbless, the statue, almost life-size and of high quality craftsmanship, was found in Fano during excavations carried out in 1948 in the area of the Bishopric and undoubtedly represents the divinity of Fortune as evidenced by the cornucopia supported by the limb sinister, symbol of abundance, fertility and prosperity.
MALATESTIAN PALACE MUSEUM – ART GALLERY
Established in 1898, the Art Gallery houses one of the most valuable collections of paintings in the Marche and bears witness to the excursus of painting in Fano and in the Marche region from the 14th century to the present day, highlighting the contacts and influences with different artistic currents and pictorial schools such as the Venetian, Bolognese and Roman ones.
The original collection of the Pinacoteca is made up of paintings from abandoned religious buildings, to which over time donations and bequests have been added such as the collection of the collector Antonelli and the Vici Martelli bequest. The works are exhibited mainly following a chronological criterion:
on the first floor there is the Fireplace Room with works from the 14th and 15th centuries
including altarpieces such as the Polyptych by Michele Giambono and the Master of Roncaiette, the Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Elena, Zaccaria, Sebastiano and Rocco by Giovanni Santi, father of Raphael. In this room it is also possible to admire the doublet of Pandolfo III Malatesti, a garment that was usually worn under the armour, found during the exhumation of the leader's mummy in the tomb at the former Church of San Francesco.
Next to the Fireplace room is the Great Hall, a place of representation already at the time of Lord Pandolfo III Malatesti, with a trussed roof and stone access portal which houses paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries. Among the most interesting works is the altarpiece painted by the Fano painters Bartolomeo and Pompeo Morganti with the Resurrection of Lazarus and San Michele Arcangelo. Also noteworthy is the collection of works of the Bolognese school coming from the city churches: the Annunciation by Guido Reni, the David with the head of Goliath traditionally attributed to Domenichino, the Guardian Angel by Guercino, the works of the Forsempronese Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri and those by Simone Cantarini from Pesaro. On the ground floor, through a pointed arch portal originating from the Malatesta period, you enter the Morganti Room, characterized by an exposed beamed ceiling with carved brackets, perhaps intended as an armory in the Malatesta period and then as a municipal archive and now intended for temporary exhibitions.
CERAMICS AND NUMISMATICS
On the mezzanine floor, a few steps from the ticket office, it is possible to access the Ceramics Room and the adjacent Numismatics Section. Inside the first room, in the display case in the centre, it is possible to observe artefacts and fragments, some of which have been restored, dating back to between the 14th and 18th centuries. The provenance of the works is partly local, but there are also artefacts from Urbania, the ancient Casteldurante. You can admire albarelli and pill jars belonging to the series of pharmacy jars coming from various pharmacies and the ancient hospital, decorated with the characteristic "Pesarese rose", made in 1803 by the Casari and Callegari factory of Pesaro and some pieces of the table service in porcelain from 1782 made for the Municipality of Fano by the Venetian factory of Geminiano Cozzi.
Next to the ceramics room there is a sampling of the numismatic collection made up of Roman republican and imperial, medieval and modern coins from various Italian mints, including those minted by the mint operating in Fano from 1414 to 1796, as well as some medals including it is worth mentioning the beautiful series of "Malatesta Medals" created by Matteo de' Pasti for Sigismondo Malatesti in 1446.
