Overview
Considered the most representative Baroque building in Matera, Palazzo Lanfranchi was built in 1668 at the order of Bishop Vincenzo Lanfranchi according to Tridentine dictates to house the diocesan seminary. The design of the main façade on Via Ridola and the layout of the rooms on two floors around a central cloister is the work of Capuchin friar Francesco da Copertino.
The asymmetrical façade is divided horizontally in half by a cornice. The lower part features five niches with statues of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and saints. The upper part has vertical pilasters, a capital with blind arcades and a central rose window, crowned by a pediment with a clock.
Since 2003, it has been home to the National Museum of Medieval and Modern Art of Basilicata. The museum is divided into three sections: Sacred Art, Collections and Contemporary Art. The first consists of a set of works, paintings, sculptures, and wooden and stone artefacts from churches in the region. The second displays a selection of paintings from the Camillo d’Errico collection from Palazzo San Gervasio, the testimony of 19th-century private collecting in Basilicata with over 300 paintings of the Neapolitan school dating to the 17th and 18th century. The third section displays works by Carlo Levi and Matera-born painter Luigi Guerricchio.
