National Museum of San Matteo
The gallery of altarpieces and polyptychs displays grandiose works by Cecco di Pietro, Francesco Traini, The Giotto school and the famous and monumental polyptych of Santa Caterina, by Simone Martini of 1319. These are followed by the Italian and foreign masters who participated in the Pisan artistic season of the fourteenth century, such as Alvaro Pirez d'Evora. The hall dedicated to the church of the Spina is a jewel of Gothic art and exhibits one of the greatest masterpieces of the Italian fourteenth century, the Madonna del Latte by Andrea Pisano (1343-1348). A long corridor with marble sculptures, including works by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano, is introduced by a very small part of the collection of ceramic basins of Islamic and local origin that once adorned the most important religious buildings in the city (X-XIII century).
The gallery of wooden sculptures reveals an important local production which developed in the fourteenth century and include elegant works, such as the Annunciata by Agostino di Giovanni and Stefano Acolti (1321), which shows the typical movements of the models of the 1920s of the last century. They are followed by high-value works from the flowery Gothic style of Gentile da Fabriano to the delicate lines of Beato Angelico, to the only surviving piece of the great Pisa polyptych by Masaccio, and an austere San Paolo (1426), from the church of Carmine. Benozzo Gozzoli and Ghirlandaio conclude the galleries of painters. The last hall displays the reliquary bust of San Lussorio made between 1422 and 1427 by the Renaissance master Donatello. The visit ends with a curious en plein air restoration laboratory that shows the delicate work of recovery and conservation of the ancient works.
