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The origins of the collection: the royal suppressions in Sardinia and San Francesco in Stampace
The original and most conspicuous nucleus of the National Art Gallery’s heritage in Cagliari was formed following two events during the second half of the 19th century. The first was the law enacted by the newly-born Kingdom of Italy concerning the suppression of ecclesiastical orders (Royal Decree No. 3036 dated 7 July 1866), which allowed the State to seize ecclesiastical property and thus, in effect, authorised the removal of the most significant works and furnishings in the hands of the Church.
The second event was the demolition in 1875 of the Church of San Francesco in Cagliari, which stood in the historical quarter of Stampace, following a lightning strike to the bell tower on November 1, 1871, causing severe damage to the structure and making it impassable. Unfortunately, plans for the restoration of the structure did not come to fruition and the dramatic decision to tear it down was made in 1875, in order to build new houses in today’s Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. The destruction of the church brought a large number of valuable 15th- and 16th-century altarpieces and other valuable paintings to the Art Gallery.
Exhibitions at Palazzo Belgrano and Palazzo Vivanet in Cagliari
All the collected material was housed inside Palazzo Belgrano, now Via Università, and in 1889 it was taken over by Filippo Vivanet, Commissioner of Museums and Antiquities Excavations, and inventoried by Vincenzo Crespi, Conservator of the Museum.
The pictorial collection, together with the archaeological finds that made up the first “Museum of Antiquities”, was transferred to Palazzo Vivanet in Via Roma, but the exhibition space proved to be insufficient for the quantity and variety of the material preserved from the outset.
The opening of Regio Museum and the exhibition in Palazzo delle Seziate
Due to the need to find a location for the works, Dionigi Scano designed a new museum venue in the space previously occupied by the Royal Mint. In 1904, the Royal Archaeological Museum was opened in Piazza Indipendenza. The historical-artistic and ethnographic collections were exhibited in the rooms of Palazzo delle Seziate, the building adjoining the Museum.
The New Museum in the former Royal Arsenal
In 1955, in the area of the former Royal Arsenal, heavily damaged by bombing during the Second World War, important works were undertaken for the creation of the Citadel of Museums: a cultural centre that would house the University and other cultural institutions. The work, supervised by the architects Libero Cecchini and Pietro Gazzola, enhanced what remained of the ancient fortifications and military buildings of the Royal Arsenal, transforming the area into a place for exhibition and use, which has also housed the Archaeological Museum and the Art Gallery since the 1990s.
After a series of adaptation and fitting-out works, the National Art Gallery was opened to the visitors on July,1 1992.
