DOMINICAN MUSEUM OF St. SABINA AT THE AVENTINE

MUSEO DOMENICANO DI S. SABINA ALL'AVENTINO
Piazza Pietro d'Illiria

Opened to the public in 2010 in the premises of the dormitory of the medieval CONVENT OF St. SABINA

34 works dating from various historical periods, from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century

AMONG THE MASTERPIECES:

Sculpture on capital of a column "St. Dominic or young friar" maybe by Arnolfo di Cambio (about 1245/1302)

"The piece has been damaged due to prolonged outdoor exposure, as evidenced by the partially leached surface, especially of the nose. Indeed, it was found, presumably in the nineteenth century, among the remains of other artifacts accumulated in the thirteenth century convent garden. It was moved in the early twentieth century in the sacristy of the church, (...) it was transferred after the Second World War in the area above the atrium; badly fixed on a capital it was later moved tothe cloister and later in the Dominican Museum where it is now. Stylistic features link the artifact to the art Arnolfo; for its quality, the fragment was considered in 1977 by Valentino Martinelli a work by the master himself. The Arnolfo connection is also in the special relationship established between sculpture and architecture" (website Sheets and Words of Art - www.foglidarte.it/index.php/luoghi-mostre-eventi/266-il-museo-di-santa-sabina-a-roma)

Tempera on wood "St. Vincent Ferrer and the client" about 1488/89 by Antonio Aquili aka Antoniozzo Romano (about 1435-40/1508)

"The style of the painting anchor it to Antoniazzo's period of greater adherence to Melozzo, before the influence of Umbrian painting: the influence of Melozzo is evident in the monumentality of the figure of the saint and in his face, described in great realistic detail with incipient wrinkles and thin white threads in his hair (...), evoking the superb portraiture components in the fresco of Sixtus IV and Platina in the Vatican Library. The hand too, gripping the book with thin highlighted veins, is a piece of acute realistic investigation, inspired by the Flemish influence transmitted to the Roman artist by the painter from Forlì. The austere client (...) is 'an authentic piece of painting of reality' (Paolucci) and one of the most vital and genuine evidence of Roman portraiture the fifteenth century. (...) It is one of the highest pinnacle achieved by Antoniozzo's art" (Anna Cavallaro)

Painting on board "Miracle of the Crucifix of St. Catherine de' Ricci" maybe by Salvatore Monosilio (active from 1744/d. 1776)

Superb "Madonna of the Rosary with St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena" by G.B. Salvi aka Sassoferrato (1609/85)

Sculptural group in cornel wood painted "Madonna and Child" by an anonymous Nordic artist

Near the church there is an opening known as the small window of S. Domenico from which, according to tradition, the brothers used to watch the saint while praying in church