Centre for the Conservation of Religious Furnishings and Costumes
Castagneto Carducci is home to a display of religious objects
The Centre for the Conservation of Religious Furnishings and Costumes is housed in the Church of the Madonna del Carmine in Castagneto Carducci. More specifically, it is located in the Chapel of the Madonna delle Rose, which was the seat of the namesake confraternity until its suppression under the reign of Grand Duke Leopold in 1785. Purchased by the Milanta family, it was donated in 1884 to the Misericordia. The inside of the chapel is Neo-Gothic in appearance, which was the result of changes made in the early 1900s.
The centre conserves liturgical furnishings, vestments and other sacred objects from the Misericordia, the Della Gherardesca family and local churches. The furnishings are on a rotating display in connection to the triennial celebrations in honour of the SS. Crocifisso. The display is equipped with labels that describe the objects’ liturgical use.
The vestments tied to the Della Gherardesca family are particularly interesting, as are an 18th-century wax devotional statuette of Baby Jesus wearing embroidered clothes and a Baroque reliquary bust of St. Bartholomew in silver leaf.
