Museo Nazionale di San Matteo (San Matteo National Museum), Pisa (must see)

The Museo Nazionale di San Matteo is housed in a former 13th century convent. You will find it in Piazza San Matteo on the banks of the River Arno. The museum is a fascinating place to visit, as it is dedicated to Tuscan paintings and sculptures from the 12th to the 18th centuries. You will also find the History of Pisa in Ancient Times, archaeological relics, including an early Christian sarcophagus, an exhibition of ceramics and Islamic art and a coin collection from the 13th to the 19th centuries. You will admire superb paintings by Reni, Gozzoli – who is best known for the mural paintings he executed in the Santo Campo, and the famous Mannerist artist, Rosso Fiorentino. Other works from the 12th to the 14th centuries are by Berlinghiero, Gaddi and Memmi.

The 14th and 15th century sculptures feature works by Nicola Pisano (who sculpted the pulpit in the Baptistery) and his son Giovanni – who is renowned for his statues in the façade of the Baptistery and the Cathedral’s pulpit. The museum also displays fine works by della Robbia and Donatello. Perhaps the highlight of the museum is the tempera on wood panel of Saint Paul, created in 1426 by Masaccio. It is the only surviving panel of an altarpiece commissioned for a chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine.