Galleria Nazionale in Perugia

Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria is the Italian national paintings collection of Umbria, housed in the Palazzo dei Priori, Perugia. Its collection contains the most outstanding representations of the Umbrian School of painting, ranging from the 13th to the 19th century, with works by artists such as Perugino, Pinturicchio, Raphael, Titian and Federico Barocci.

Sala del Cambio ancient exchanger

The Galleria Nazionale's main hall is known as the Sala del Cambio and it's a spectacular feat of architecture. It was used as a money-exchange office for merchants and bankers during medieval times. The name Cambio means "exchange" in Italian. This hall was decorated with frescoes by Perugino, who painted three large panels representing the Birth of Venus, Pallas expels Mars from Heaven, Coronation of Venus and Madonna del Velo.

The origins of the collection 

The collection's origins lie in the foundation of the Perugian Accademia del Disegno in the mid-16th century. The Academy was initially based in the Convento degli Olivetani at Montemorcino, where it began to assemble a collection of paintings and drawings. In 1826, after expositions had been moved to several locations around Perugia, many of these works were finally installed in what was to become the city's main gallery space: two rooms in the Palazzo dei Priori.

Gallery museum lavishly enriched with precious Italian art

The museum reopened its doors to visitors on 4th December 2015 after significant restoration work, which modernized the spaces and created new areas for exhibitions, study and research. The artworks are arranged in chronological order, enabling visitors to follow a route through history following a journey through time, from early medieval times to the 19th century. Galleria Nazionale is a great chance to see legendary masterpieces of Botticelli, Caravaggio, De Chirico and Titian, as well as other artists from around the world.