Description of the attraction
The Samnite Museum in Benevento is dedicated to different historical eras since the founding of the city and consists of four sections - archaeological, medieval, artistic and historical. The first three are located in the cloister of the Santa Sofia monastery, and the last is located in the Rocca dei Rettori castle. In addition, in 1981, the church of Sant Hilario a Port'Aurea became the property of the museum.
The predecessor of the present museum was a small archaeological museum, founded in 1806 by Talleyrand, the mister of Napoleon. The first director of the museum, Louis de Beer, significantly enriched its collections from his personal collections and from those of Talleyrand himself. However, soon the building of the museum was given to the Jesuit community, which opened its own college, while preserving the archaeological collections. And in 1873, the Samnite Museum was founded, the core of which was this collection of archaeological artifacts. It was housed in the building of the Rocca dei Rettori castle until 1929, when part of the collections were transferred to the Santa Sofia complex, which was bought specifically for this purpose (the historical section remained in Rocca dei Rettori).
The archeology section occupies the first floor of the monastery cloister. Various antique artifacts are exhibited here: a lapidarium, exhibits of the Paleolithic era brought from all over the province, terracotta and ceramics products dating back to both the Samnite era and the times of Magna Graecia (8-4 centuries BC). In addition, in the section you can see ancient Roman copies of Greek statues, statues of Emperor Trajan and his wife Plotina, bas-reliefs depicting scenes of gladiatorial battles, and the Hall of Isis displays Egyptian artifacts from the temple of the goddess.
The section dedicated to the Middle Ages is notable primarily for the Sale della Langobardia Minor, where you can learn the history of Lombard Benevento. It contains numerous architectural elements and early Christian inscriptions, weapons, jewelry made of gold, silver and bone, tools, coins, including Greek, Byzantine, Neapolitan, etc. On the second floor, in the Lion Loggia, sculptures and ancient coats of arms are exhibited.
The art section consists of an art gallery with works by local artists. The Renaissance is represented by paintings by Donato Piperino, in the Baroque Hall you can see characteristic furniture and ceramics, and in the 19th century Hall there is a huge bas-relief by the watercolorist Achille Vianelli. There are also works by artists Corrado Calli, Renato Guttuso, Mino Maccari, as well as drawings from the 16th and 19th centuries, including a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's "Leda".
Finally, the historical section, housed in the Rocca dei Rettori castle, introduces the history of Benevento with the help of official documents and other exhibits - parchments of Falcone Beneventano, papal edicts, Talleyrand declarations, busts of historical figures. Particular attention is paid to the Risorgimento movement in Benevento and local patriots.
