The Museum of Medieval and Modern Art in Arezzo is housed inside Palazzo Bruni-Ciocchi, or Palazzo della Dogana, one of the most beautiful Renaissance buildings in the city, built starting in 1445 on the orders of Donato Bruni, son of Leonardo, the famous humanist and chancellor for the Republic of Florence.
The history of the museum crosses centuries, thanks to a blending of art collections of different origins and types, the results of the cultural and artistic interests of collectors, scholars and artists from Arezzo and of activities by the city’s main institutions.
The two primary cores of the museum are comprised of the collection that belonged to the Fraternita dei Laici, a charitable institution in Arezzo founded in 1262 that collected artworks bequeathed by private citizens and institutes, and by the Municipality of Arezzo’s collection, made up mostly of artworks taken from monumental buildings following the Napoleonic suppressions between 1808 and 1810, as well as a rich variety of works of art, majolicas, weaponry and gold works coming from private bequests.
Amongst the most important works, there are sculptures like St. Michael the Archangel from the Medici Fortress and the several Madonna and Child from the 14th-century defense walls, as well as local medieval paintings by artists like Margarito, Spinello Aretino and Parri di Spinello. In Renaissance painting we find works by Bartolomeo della Gatta, Luca Signorelli, Domenico Pecori and Giorgio Vasari. Famous works in the collection from the Baroque period are by Codazzi, Dolci, Vignali and Dughet. Lastly, there are Neo-Classical, Romantic and Macchiaioli-era paintings, like those by Telemaco Signorini and Fattori.
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