Archconfraternity of the Misericordia Collection in San Miniato
Sacred works of art, priceless reliquaries and centuries-old ambulances inside a historic palace
The Archconfraternity of the Misericordia Collection in San Miniato is a treasure chest that’s grown over the centuries thanks to several donations. It’s currently housed in the organization’s headquarters, the historic Palazzo Roffia, a building dating to the second half of the 1500s with a façade in the late Renaissance style.
The objects collected over time are both sacred works of art – from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque era – and pieces that document the history of this institution and its work with assisting the community. There are many sacred vestments and furnishings tied to the brothers’ work.
Inside this permanent exhibition, visitors can also see a group of wooden statues from the 1200s depicting the Deposition from the Cross, which was originally located in the chapel of the Monastery of SS. Trinità. Sitting alongside them is a painting of the Coronation of Virgin Mary, a 17th-century work on canvas with saints George, John the Evangelist, Cecilia and Joseph, and a Madonna and Child from the 16th century, probably made by Francesco Lanfranchi.
The collection also includes some reliquaries, such as the one containing the vestment of St. Charles Borromeo, and historic equipment used by the Archconfraternity, like an ambulance dating to the 1800s, originally pulled by horses and used to transport the sick.
Accessibility information: regione.toscana.it
