Musei Civici Sarnano

Sarnano may be a small town but it has a very impressive Museum complex that you won't want to miss. The "Polo Museale di Sarnano" is a collection of civic museums under one roof, housed in the ex-Convento di Santa Chiara. Here you'll find the Pinacoteca (art gallery); the Museum of Sacred Art; the Museum of Ancient and Modern Weapons; the Museum of Avifauna of Sibillines; the Museum of the Martelli (hammers); and the Mariano Gavasci collection of art.

The Pinacoteca is a lovely museum of Marchigiani artists who studied the masters that were from Le Marche or worked in the region, such as Venetian brothers Carlo and Vittore Crivelli who left indelible marks on the art of the region; Lorenzo Lotto; and Urbino-born Raphael. Some of the highlights include works by Vincenzo Pagani from Fermo, a Renaissance painter who combines the symbolism of Crivelli with the classicism of Raphael to beautiful effect; San Ginesio artist Stefano Folchetti; and Lotto's student Simone de Magistris from Caldarola who's Last Supper is an innovative and lively take on the subject; among many others.

The Museum of Sacred Art holds objects and reliquaries from churches around the area. The array of military and civilian armaments is impressive, while the Avifauna Museum displays more than 700 aviary species from the Sibilline Mountains. The Hammer Museum is one of a kind (see separate entry).