Museo Diocesano Gaeta

The Archdiocese Museum in Gaeta develops in the first three floors of the house of Cardinal Thomas de Vio. The building underwent significant changes over the centuries, until the mid-nineteenth century when it was added to the new facade; It was the seat of the Episcopal seminary for over a century, until the end of the sixties of the twentieth century. The gallery collects tables and paintings almost exclusively to religious subjects, dated between the twelfth and eighteenth centuries.

Among the painters are found Giovanni da Gaeta, an artist active in the second half of the fifteenth century; Riccardo Quartararo; Teodoro d'Errico Flemish; Quentin Metsys; Luis de Morales; Girolamo Imparato; Scipione Pulzone; Fabrizio Santafede; Giacinto Brandi; Pompeo Batoni; Andrea Vaccaro; Luca Giordano; Francesco Solimena and Sebastiano Conca. Some of the works have come to Gaeta to the mid-nineteenth century to adorn some sacred buildings in the city: this initiative was undertaken by King Ferdinand II, who considered the Tyrrhenian center as the second capital of the Kingdom. The museum also houses the Standard of the Battle of Lepanto: the sacred banner, in fine silk with red background and edged in gold, depicts the crucified Jesus between St. Peter and St. Paul; below is the inscription IN HOC SIGNO VINCES. The Banner was hoisted in 1571 on the flagship of the papal fleet during the battle of Lepanto between the Christian fleet duidata by Don John of Austria against ships of the Turks who have long preyed on the coasts of the Mediterranean. The museum contains also a number of artifacts of gold and silver from the eleventh century to the nineteenth: the gift of extraordinary craftsmanship Byzantine cross of the Cardinal De Vio of Gaeta Cathedral.