Northern Italian workshop, Carthusian decoration box
Northern Italy workshop Carthusian-style casket with decoration, 15th century Casket Carved walnut wood, bone and mother-of-pearl Inv. PME9 This square-shaped wooden chest, decorated with mother-of-pearl and bone inlays, was probably intended to hold papers and precious objects. Purchased by Barbantini on the antiques market, it is distinguished by a well-preserved Carthusian-style decoration composed of […]
Lombard Ambit, Mandola
Lombardy Scope Mandola, second half of the 18th century Walnut, maple and fir Marfisa mansion, inv. PME78 The instrument, was purchased by Barbantini to enrich the studio space. Belonging to the lute family and identifiable as a mandola, it is an exquisitely crafted plucked instrument made in the Lombardy area in the second half […]
Veneto area (?), Dish with bird
Dish with bird, second half of the 16th century Engobed, graffitied and painted terracotta Estense Foundation Collection, inv. CFE II.42 The small-sized dish features a flattened calotte cavetto and an outward-facing, rounded rim. In the center is depicted a bird resting on a branch, surrounded by stylized vines and plant motifs. The technical and stylistic […]
Mario Capuzzo, Portrait of a noblewoman (Marfisa d’Este)
Portrait of a noblewoman (Marfisa d’Este), 1938 Oil on plywood, Marfisa Building, inv. PME14 The painting is a copy of a late 16th-century female portrait, preserved at the Ducal Palace in Mantua. In the late 1930s, people wanted to recognize the image of Marfisa d’Este in the Mantuan original (attributed to Anthonis Mor). The gentlewoman […]
Anonymous, Francesco d’Este
Anonymous Francesco d’Este (obverse); Two columned temples with dome (reverse)., mid-16th century Bronze Marfisa building, inv. NU51113 The medal depicts, on the obverse, the bust of Francesco d’Este, represented turned to the right and bareheaded, with a beard and short hair, and dressed in an armor decorated with the head of Medusa. The legend […]
Herbaria
Herbariums The museum has two small collections of dried plants related to the Ferrara area: the officinal herbarium of Raffaele Curti (about 100 sheets) and the herbarium of specimens collected on the banks of maceri, typical freshwater reservoirs once used for hemp processing (23 sheets).
The ethnographic collection
The ethnographic collection Established when the Museum was founded, the ethnographic collection contains artifacts related to the customs and traditions of the peoples encountered by the early donors during their explorations on different continents. About 30 specimens are currently preserved. Among the best-known pieces is the Tsantsa, a ritual head created by the Amazonian Shuar […]
Mammal Collections
Mammal collections The historical collection includes 214 specimens, including osteological specimens and naturalized taxidermied specimens, while the study collection has about 1,600 specimens. The latter, recovered already deceased and entrusted to the museum, include species of special significance such as the wild cat ( Felis silvestris), the wolf (Canis lupus), the golden jackal (Canis aureus) […]
Ornithological collections
Ornithological collections The ornithological collections include 2,080 taxidermied specimens, including some once common but now considered extinct species, such as the curlew (Numenius tenuirostris). The study collection, developed from 1982 onward includes 233 specimens for 74 species from the Po Delta and Emilia-Romagna; the birds had died from various causes (impacts with high-tension cables, road […]
Herpetological collections
Herpetological collections Herpetological collections include amphibians and reptiles and include historical artifacts and artifacts from research activities conducted since 1990. They are preserved in ethyl alcohol. They consist of 1,726 amphibians and 797 reptiles, totaling 2,523 specimens. The amphibian collection represents 82% of European species and 85% of Italian species, while the reptile collection comprises […]