| Permanent exhibition
“Ettore Pomarici Santomasi’s Family”
In the museum there are important and valuable collections of ceramic and bronze finds that have been found out in the excavations made in Botromagno’s area and that belong to VII-III centuries b.C. This collection includes more than 2.000 valuable finds with a relevant historical importance as they give the possibility to trace the main stages of the process of human settlement in Gravina’s territory, starting form the origins.
A huge collection of about 263 paintings on canvas by artists from different regions.
More artistically and expressively relevant than all the other are "Madonna col Bambino" (“The Virgin Mary with the Christ Child”) and "Disputa di Gesù tra i Dottori" (“The Dispute of Christ among the Doctors”) by Francesco Guarini, a Neapolitan painter born in Solofra, and "San Sebastiano" (“Saint Sebastian”, 1599) by Ludovico Carracci, a notable painter from Bologna.
Remarkable are also some ovals showing the “Allegories of the four Continents”, attributable to Saverio Persico.
Extraordinary interesting is the collection of majolica locally manufactured: wall bricks, various types of floor, majolica jars, plates, amphora belonging to 17th-18th centuries as well as a high number of stoups.
In his “Regno di Napoli in prospettiva”, dated 1703, Battista Pacichelli indicated Gravina as one of the richest town in Naples’ Reign, where “majolica were manufactured imitating those from Faenza”, adding that this activity was very important for that the town itself.
In 1749 also Summonte, stating that “Gravina was a nice town…”, noted the presence of a large number of furnaces.
“Ettore Pomarici Santomasi” library is part of the same Foundation, erected through the Royal Decree nr. 1761 on 28-11-1920 and based on the baron Ettore Pomarici Santomasi’s testament, is located in via Museo n.20 in Gravina in Puglia (Ba).
When it was inaugurated in 1932, the Library had an initial book heritage of 7746 volumes, resulting from donations made by local noble families such as Pomarici Santomasi, Calderoni Martini, Pellicciari e Faivre.
The Library has two inventory logbooks: one Chronological, the other Topographic. The first includes (till the day August the 9th, 2007) 38347 volumes that have been registered and filed. The Topographic logbook is in its initial stage. |