Sant'Urbano is a deconsecrated

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church and

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

abbey in the town of Apiro, province of Macerata in the

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, Italy. The deconsecrated church is now used to display the artifact and painting collection of the town.

History

A large part of the collection consists of sacramental artifacts donated by Giovanni Giacomo Baldini (1581-1656), a doctor born in Apiro, who became the physician of Cardinal

Scipione Borghese Scipione Caffarelli-Borghese (; 1 September 1577 – 2 October 1633) was an Italian cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts. A member of the Borghese family, he was the patron of the painter Caravaggio and the artist Bernini. His legac ...

, Pope

Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

, and Pope

Innocent X Pope Innocent X (6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death, in January 1655. Born in Rome of a family fro ...

. Due to Baldini, the church of Sant'Urbano was made a collegiate church in 1632. In 1644, Baldini endowed the church with the artifacts, including reliquaries and silver goblets. The displays are in the baroque sacristy of the church, which contains a Callido organ from 1771 and wooden decorations from Andrea Scoccianti, also called Raffaello delle Fogliarelle (1640-1700). Also in the collection are parchments and paintings. Among the paintings are a ''St John the Baptist in the Desert'' by

Valentin de Boulogne Valentin de Boulogne (before 3 January 1591 – 19 August 1632), sometimes referred to as Le Valentin, was a French painter in the tenebrist style. Origins Valentin was born in Coulommiers, France, where he was baptised in the parish of Sai ...

, a ''Pieta'' by

Jusepe de Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (; baptised 17 February 1591 – 3 November 1652) was a Spanish painter and Printmaking, printmaker. Ribera, Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artist ...

, and paintings by

Andrea Lilli Andrea Lilio (1555 - 1642) was an Italian painter born in Ancona, hence he also is known as ''L'Anconitano''. He painted mainly in his native city, as well as in Rome, where he was active from the beginning of the 17th century until around 1640 ...

.Marche region
description of Apiro museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urbano Apiro Apiro Benedictine monasteries in Italy Museums in Marche