Diocesan Museum and Crypt of St. Rufino

The museum was refurbished in 2006 and stands in Piazza San Rufino. It is divided into the crypt of Cathedral of San Rufino, decorated with extremely rare frescoes and by a Roman sarcophagus with the myth of Selene and Endymion that holds the coffin of the Patron Saint Rufino.

The museum continues in the mediaeval cloister and in the underground passages of Palazzo dei Canonici next door. The tour outlines and highlights the layers of buildings erected in the area by the 4th century BC with the pagan sanctuary devoted to Cupra/Bona Mater.

The museum collection, commissioned in 1941 by Bishop Giuseppe Placido Nicolini, consists not only of works belonging to the cathedral or from the oratories of the confraternities of Assisi and the abolished parishes, but also of detached frescoes, paintings on wood and canvas, sacred vestments and objects of ecclesiastical use, goldsmiths’ art, Roman and mediaeval tombstone materials and interesting procession banners.

Among the works of special interest are the frescoes by the Maestro of Santa Chiara, by Pace di Bartolo and Puccio Capanna from the oratory of San Rufinuccio, dating back to 1334. The museum also preserves a polyptich by Niccolò di Liberatore, known as l’Alunno, and paintings by Matteo da Gualdo, Dono Doni and Cesare Sermei.

The collection of fourth and fifth century works by the Tuscan school, donated by the will of the American art critic, Frederick Mason Perkins, who died in 1955 and who had a very close bond with the town of Assisi occupies in important space. Other artists include Jacopo della Quercia, Filippo Lippi, Francesco di Giorgio Martini and Duccio di Buoninsegna.

Assisi for everyone

Do you need more information on the accessibility of the monument? We have a dedicated section where you can find all the useful information for people with motor disabilities to visit Museo Diocesano and Crypt of San Rufino