Top 5 Art Museums in Pisa, Tuscany

The itinerary is through 26 rooms and 380 works including new works restored such as the crown, the scepter, the globe and very refined drapery of the Emperor Henry VII, all recovered during the recognition of his tomb carried out in 2014. At the end of this itinerary we find the wonderful cloister that overlooks the Bell Tower . The museum has in the upper part of the cloister a cafeteria overlooking the Piazza. A modern bookshop set up in the hall at the entrance.

After a visit to Pisa's famous Leaning Tower, drop in at one of the major national museums in the city.

The Opera della Primaziale Pisana (O₽A) is a non-profit organisation which was established in order to oversee the first works for the construction of the monuments in the Piazza del Duomo, subject to its own charter which includes the protection, promotion and enhancement of its heritage, in order to pass the religious and artistic meaning onto future generations.

Closed for extraordinary maintenance from 13 January 2020 to date to be advised. Destined to remain concealed beneath the finished work, the precious “sinopia” is the only graphic work that we still have of the early masters, for drawings on paper or parchment that have survived from way back in the Middle Ages are extremely rare. As the first step towards making a fresco, the sinopia is a drawing traced out on the first layer of plaster. It takes its name from “sinoper” or “sinopia”, the red pigment which is mixed with water and applied by brush. The Pisa collection is absolutely unique and it came to light as the result of a terrible event. A fire raged through the Camposanto during a bombing raid in the Second World War and this made it necessary to detach the frescoes from the plaster in order to save vast portions that had not been burnt and to restore them. The outer film of paint was removed using the “strappo” technique, revealing the hidden sinopias beneath.