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Anghiari Museum of Misericordia

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Museums

Testimonies of charitable confraternities from our past

The Museum of Misericordia was established in 1975 to collect artifacts of the social activities carried out by the Confraternity in the Anghiari territory during its centuries-long presence. Active as early as 1564, the Confraternity then called "dello Spirito Santo" (of the Holy Spirit) devoted itself to charitable and helpful activities. It particularly distinguished itself during the typhus epidemic of 1817, a period in which members added hats to their robes, similar to those of the Misericordia of Florence: for this reason it was also called the Confraternita di Misericordia. These events were followed by the founding of the Misericordia Hospital in 1870.

The museum is housed in the ancient Badia, former abbey church of St. Bartholomew the Apostle and historical headquarters of the Confraternity since 1817. Its rooms are of considerable artistic merit because of the 15th-century frescoes on the walls, which nowadays can be admired only in part. The exhibition, which also includes the small room of showcases and the small room of the archives, houses memorabilia from the old Misericordia Hospital; ancient cart-stretcher and robes used by the Brothers of Misericordia in the 1800s; the very old handwritten statutes of the previous Confraternities and some precious relics.