After a nearly 20-year closure, the Museo San Pietro in Colle di Val d’Elsa (SI) recently reopened its doors. Highlighting the city’s religious and civic history, the new layout is a project of the Arcidiocesi di Siena, the City of Colle Val d’Elsa and the Fondazione Musei Senesi.
As a border town between the territories of Siena and Florence, medieval Colle di Val d’Elsa endured political turmoil, numerous battles and sieges, but was also a point of convergence for both areas’ artistic traditions and movements. The new arrangement moves through the town’s major historical events up to the modern age, and emphasizes how its artistic output expressed the local population’s life of faith.
A substantial section is dedicated to the Romano Bilenchi Collection, a rich body of literary works that influenced the 20th-century writer, a native of Colle di Val d’Elsa. Texts by Ottone Rosai, Moses Levy and Mino Maccari lend context to Bilenchi’s literary education and style.
The museum also underscores the unique rapport between Colle di Val d’Elsa’s artistic culture, the development of the Diocesi di Colle and the changes to the city’s urban makeup. For additional information, see the Colle Alta Musei website.
