The Maffeiano Museum - The courtyardMaffeian Lapidary Museum
The Maffeian Lapidary Museum, which was instituted in the heart of Verona in the mid-18th century, is one of the oldest public museums in Europe.
The name of the Museum is indissolubly related to the Marquis Scipione Maffei, since it was born from over thirty years of his passionate work, during which he collected hundreds of ancient inscriptions.
The name chosen by Maffei for his museum is emblematic: Museum Veronense, or «museum of the city of Verona», a public institution that - unlike the private art collections which were widespread at that time - guaranteed the conservation and safeguarding of the exhibits, avoiding their dispersion, which often occurred to the materials kept in small private museums after the death of their owners.
Portrait of Scipione Maffei (18th century)Maffeian Lapidary Museum
Scipione Maffei (1675 - 1755) was an important Veronese scholar and erudite, well known and appreciated also abroad for the versatility of his talent and for the multiplicity of his interests applied to the most varied fields of knowledge.
Self portrait of Alessandro Pompei (18th century)Maffeian Lapidary Museum
The noble Veronese architect and painter Alessandro Pompei (1705 - 1772) was entrusted by Maffei with the construction of a place suitable for displaying the slabs, firmly convinced that «what is useful to the public must be made public».
For more than a century the Maffeian Lapidary Museum represented the Veronese museum par excellence and constituted one of the obligatory stops for many foreigners, who came to Italy for the Grand Tour, the journey aimed at learning about classical art and culture.
Among them, in September 1786, there was also Johann Wolfgang Goethe, who particularly appreciated a tombstone erected for a boy, in which the deceased is flanked by his parents and accompanied by his dog.
Perspective drawing and plan of the Maffeiano Museum from the volume Museum Veronense, 1749 (1749)Maffeian Lapidary Museum
The choice of the place for the display of the slabs collected by Maffei was not accidental: the courtyard of the Philharmonic Academy, of which he himself was an authoritative member since 1701.
Maffei decided to increase the number of works preserved at the Academy, researching and purchasing many other epigraphic documents.
The Maffeiano Museum - Room with roman artifacts on the second floorMaffeian Lapidary Museum
The current museum layout, according to the arrangement made by Lanfranco Franzoni, reflects only partially the original one made by Maffei, after the reduction of the spaces in the courtyard and the construction of three floors above the portico, occurred in the 20th century.
The Maffeiano Museum - Room with greek artifacts on the first floorMaffeian Lapidary Museum
The museum layout is due to the architect Arrigo Rudi and was inaugurated in 1982.
