Unveiling Parma’s Hidden Gem: Explore the Farnese Theater and National Gallery
The National Gallery of Parma is in the Palazzo della Pilotta. It has works by Leonardo, Parmigianino, and Correggio, among others. The plan calls for a stop at the Farnese Theater, which has an Archaeological Museum on the first floor.
It is one of the most important art galleries in Italy, and it is beautiful that it shares its address in the ducal city of Parma with other treasures of this small “capital” of elegance and culture. In fact, the National Gallery of Parma is in the building of the Pilotta complex, which, as the Farnese family had hoped, was already a major cultural center in the 1600s.
On the first floor of the building, which is called by the Basque name of a ball game, there is an archaeological museum. On the second floor, along with the entrance to the National Gallery, there is also the Palatine Library, which has one of the most important Jewish collections in the world among its 700,000 books, 6,000 manuscripts, and 3,000 incunabula.
The Farnese Theater
And that’s not all: the Farnese Theater, a wooden jewel that has only recently been reopened as a concert hall for very special occasions, is also part of the complex. Everyone goes to Parma and the Pilotta, but the “Gallery” and its paintings are the main reason.
There are paintings from the 13th century to the 19th century in the collections. There is a lot of work from Italy, but there are also pieces by masters from Flanders, the Netherlands, Spain, and France.
History
Ranuccio Farnese asked for it to be built, and it still has a lot of works from the Parma and Emilian schools, even though the old original picture gallery moved to Naples in 1734 with Don Carlo Infante of Spain, who went from being king of Parma to being king of the Two Sicilies.
After that, the Duchess Maria Luigia’s help and interest “replenished” the ranks of the art gallery with important purchases of many collections that would have been lost otherwise.
Today’s tour starts at the Farnese theater, a grand wooden space that was rebuilt after it was damaged in World War II. Ranuccio I’s original plan for the theater in 1618 was for it to be a temporary space, built on the old parade ground of the Pilotta palace.
He thought of it to surprise and impress Cosimo II de’ Medici, who had promised to stop in Parma on his way from Florence to Milan. In reality, that trip never happened, but a few years later, in 1628, Margherita de’ Medici and Odoardo Farnese got married there.
A banquet worthy of the blazon of the newlyweds, which ended with a sumptuous naumachia, a naval battle for which the bottom of the theater was waterproofed with pitch and flooded with full-blown jets.
The theater was used for shows and meetings for just over a hundred years before it was shut down for good. Bombed in 1944 and rebuilt in the 1950s, it can now be seen on the way to the Pilotta Palace. It was rebuilt without the rich plastic and pictorial equipment. In fact, you can walk from the stage of the theater to the gallery on suspended walkways that show paintings and sculptures that hint at the many masterpieces you can see there.
Bombed in 1944 and rebuilt in the 1950s, it can now be seen on the way to the Pilotta Palace. It was rebuilt without the rich plastic and pictorial equipment. In fact, you can walk from the stage of the theater to the gallery on suspended walkways that show paintings and sculptures that hint at the many masterpieces you can see there.
The first part is all about Romanesque art. The capitals by Benedetto Antelami from the city’s cathedral are the “stars” of the visit. In the next rooms, masterpieces go all the way up to the Renaissance. The most famous is a black-and-white head of a girl signed by Leonardo da Vinci and called “La scapigliata” by everyone.
The work goes back to the city after being used to decorate the Expo Leonardo Da Vinci show in Milan. Not far away, a portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam by the German Hans Holbein the Younger from the 1600s stands in contrast to it. In the next rooms, works by Flemish masters like Jan and Pieter Brueghel are used to go over the history of art until you get back to Italy.
In fact, Correggio and Parmigianino were both born in Parma, where a lot of space is devoted to the “myths” of the house. Of the first, you can look at the frescoes dedicated to the Annunciation with the Madonna della Scala, the Incoronata, the Madonna della scodella, and the Madonna del “Giorno,” who appears with San Girolamo.
On the other hand, Parmigianino’s painting of the Turkish Slave stands out, as does the whole national gallery. However, a statue that Canova made for Maria Luigia shows that she is the real mistress of the house here, just as she is in the city.
You can’t miss the Archaeological Museum on the first floor. It has its own entrance and ticket. Its most important finds come from Velleia, which is on the hills of Piacenza. They are from Roman times. Philip of Bourbon started it in 1760. At the time, he was the brother of Charles, the king of Naples, who was just beginning to dig at Herculaneum.
The Tabula Alimentaria from the time of Trajan in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD stands out as a historical masterpiece. It is a rare find because it is one of the largest bronze inscriptions we know of. By carefully writing down the names and deeds of local landowners, it tells us a lot about how the economy worked at the time.
INFO
National Gallery, Piazza della Pilotta 5, Parma, with the Farnese Theater, Palatine Library, and Archaeological Museum. With the ticket, which costs 6 euros, you can go to the National Gallery, the Farnese Theater, and the Palatine Library (just to take a quick look at the old building). Tuesday–Saturday 8.30–19, Sunday and holidays From 8.30 to 14: Monday As part of Expo, from Saturday night until 10 p.m. Tel. 0521 233 309
With another ticket (which costs 4 euros), you can get into the Archaeological Museum. Tuesday-Friday, 9–16.30 Saturday-Sunday, 13–19 Closed every month on the last Sunday.
Tel: 0521 233 718