Piacenza Cathedral Unveils New Museum and Guercino Dome Access

On April 7, Piacenza will inaugurate 'I Misteri della Cattedrale. Meraviglie nel labirinto del sapere', a project that includes a new installation of the Museo del Duomo and opens secret spaces of the cathedral, culminating in the cupola frescoed by Guercino in 1627. The museum, with a new entrance from Via Prevostura through the rear gardens, features a vertical path leading visitors through sculpture, silver, and wooden artifact rooms, a small gallery with altarpieces by Elisabetta Sirani, Giovanni Battista Tagliasacchi, Robert De Longe, Guido Reni, and an Achrome by Piero Manzoni, and the historical archive with 18th-century wooden cabinets. The highlight is the cupola, where visitors can walk the loggia and view Guercino's frescoes of prophets, sibyls, and Christ's infancy scenes, plus two sections by Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli (il Morazzone), after a light show by Davide Groppi. The exhibition also displays precious medieval illuminated manuscripts like the 'Libro del Maestro' and the 'Salterio di Angilberga'. The project is promoted by the Diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio, with Fondazione Piacenza e Vigevano, the Municipality of Piacenza, and the State Archives of Piacenza. Director Manuel Ferrari stated that the initiative continues the valorization of the cathedral and its artistic heritage, following the reopening of the attic route to the Guercino cupola.