Amedeo Lia Museum

The Amedeo Lia Museum has been founded in 1995 and opened in December 1996, thanks to the relevant donation of works of art belonging to Amedeo Lia and his family. It includes paintings datable back to the 13th to the 18th century, Italian and foreign miniatures (13th to 16th century), ancient, medieval and modern sculptures and works of art. The outstanding works are the procession crosses, the glasses and of rock-crystals, the enamel objects from Limoges, the Gothic ivory works and the vast collection of bronzes. The Museum is hosted in the ancient church and convent of the Friars of St. Francesco da Paola. They settled in La Spezia in the first quarter of the 17th century. The building has been completely fitted up with museum conveniences; special care has been taken in recovering and re-evaluating the historical spaces. The restoration has involved the whole wing of the convent, the internal cloister, the former church, which has maintained its 19th-century aspect. The brilliant color of the main façade depends on the original plaster, according to the traditional Ligurian taste, and acts as a counter-attraction for the deliberately toned down colors of the interiors, thus designed to make the works of art adequately stand out.