4 – The second hall

A select group of paintings on wood and canvas from the 16th century characterises this room, which also houses jewellery and a few stone artefacts.

The Deposition is a refined and elegant 16th century painting, formerly in the Church of St Dominic in Sulmona: St Dominic and St Catherine are depicted on each side of the cross. The layout derives from a famous engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi based on a drawing by Raphael, which was widely used in the Lombardy region.

The painting of St James deserves a closer look. It used to be placed on the altar of the Ginnetti family in Santa Maria della Tomba in Sulmona, whose heraldic coats of arms are depicted in the lower corners of the painting. It is attributed to Paolo Olmo from Bergamo, who signed the beautiful altarpiece of the Visitation commissioned for the Lombard altar in the Church of San Francesco della Scarpa.

The organ panels from the early 16th century with the figures of St John the Evangelist, St Paul, St Peter and St John the Baptist come from the parish church of Scanno and were attributed to the Maestro di Caramanico, the anonymous author of the triptych from the Church of San Maurizio in the same town, who was active with his workshop over a vast area of Abruzzo.

The Virgin and St John, painted between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, are two paintings on wood that were cut out according to the profile of the figures and certainly formed part of a sacred representation with the Crucifix in the centre that was once located in the parish church of Introdacqua. The 16th century Madonna and Child in polychrome stone comes from the same village, while the stone cross was taken from Pettorano sul Gizio.

Among the liturgical furnishings, display case no. 1 hosts a monstrance resulting from the assemblage of late Gothic and 17th century parts. A 16th century silver pax, from Roccapia, depicts the Coronation of the Virgin with St Dominic and St Catherine, who are represented below against the backdrop of a mountainous landscape. Another later pax in brass, from the Treasury of the Cathedral of San Panfilo, presents the scene of the Deposition. Display case no. 2 hosts a pair of 17th century thuribles, with the accompanying incense boats, coming from the Church of Santa Chiara, of which the one dated 1617 appears to be among the first artefacts by the Neapolitan school imported to Sulmona.

Gallery