HISTORY OF THE ART GALLERY
Since the late nineteenth century, the Pinacoteca has narrated the artistic tradition of the territory, nourished over the centuries by the prestigious Sacro Monte construction site.
Over time, the path leading to the birth of the Pinacoteca intertwined with the development of various institutions housed in the spaces of today’s Palazzo dei Musei.
1778: the School of Drawing is founded;
1831: the Society for the Encouragement of the Study of Drawing is established, taking over its management;
1838: the Barolo School of Wood Carving is founded, named after its promoter, the Turin Marquis Carlo Tancredi Falletti di Barolo;
1875: the Society for the Preservation of Works of Art and Monuments in Valsesia is founded; one of its objectives is the establishment of a Pinacoteca;
1885: during the celebrations in honor of Gaudenzio Ferrari, the Valsesian Art Exhibition is inaugurated;
1886: from an initial nucleus of works from the exhibition, the original Pinacoteca is born, consisting of two rooms;
1939-1957: under the direction of the first director, the painter Emilio Contini, the collection grew and expanded to more than twenty rooms;
1960: under the guidance of the Valsesian engineer Giorgio Rolandi, president of the Society for Preservation, the rearrangement of the Pinacoteca is inaugurated.
Evolution
2002: the hall dedicated to Tanzio da Varallo is inaugurated;
2005: the rooms dedicated to Gaudenzio Ferrari and the Renaissance are rearranged;
2009-2015: the spaces housing the collections of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are renovated;;
2018: the Pinacoteca hosts the exhibition Il Rinascimento di Gaudenzio Ferrari.
