Tuscan delicacy.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, PIOMBINO, ITALY

An archaeological museum in a cathedral annex on the west coast of italy pays tribute to the rich and ancient history of the area.

The Tuscan seaport of Piombino, at the south end of a peninsula in the Ligurian Sea, is the nearest point on the mainland to Elba. Due to proximity to Elba's iron and steel mines, the town has from ancient times been associated with heavy industry and today is dominated by metal works. Piombino does not figure largely in guidebooks, except as ferry port for the island, but as a coastal base and industrial centre, it has had a lively history and close connection with the archaeological riches of the area. Nearby, at the north end of the peninsuta are the Etruscan remains of the settlement and necropolis of Populonia.

In celebration of the rich and diverse history of the peninsula, Piombino has created a new archaeological museum and named it after Andrea Cuardi, the fifteenth-century architect responsible for much of the town's Renaissance fabric. Designed by Antonello Boschi, the museum has been inserted into an annexe of the fourteenth century San Antimo cathedral; on the west, the museum spills into a cathedral cloister, and on the east, into new gardens.

Boschi conceived the complex of annexe, gardens and cloisters as a single articulated entity: and in converting it into a coherent museum, his hand has been light and his interventions modest. The buildings have been left to speak for themselves, their dignity enhanced by the simplicity of green lawn and stone paving, and by the exquisite detritus of the past. The annexe, which had been used by the clergy for stores and as a pantry, was restored and replastered -- apart from the north wall where remain the delicate traces of a Renaissance fresco of Virgin and Child (dating from the second half of the fifteenth century). New doors were installed, inside and at the entrance, austerely detailed and MADE of cypress and stainless steel; in the cloisters, masonry was restored, inner walls replastered and a lawn planted and bordered with lavender. Entrance to the museum is off the Via del Coro, which leads upwards from city to castle and from which you pass through a new wall of soft grey limestone into the garden, shaded by cypress and laid down on the site of an old cemetery. The same grey limestone paves a forecourt which is set with benches and some of the more architectural exhibits like Guardi's stone architrave.

Internally, the museum is divided into three halls: the central one, which you enter first, is devoted to Primitives and contains such objects as a Populonian font. It is flanked on right and left respectively by the Fresco and Guard! halls. Boschi's carefully created enfilade weaves together the drama of space and objects and allows views from one space into another -- for example, a slot cut into the dividing wall between Primitives and Fresco halls gives a glimpse of the fresco when you enter the museum -- and of the gardens and cloisters outside. Halls are linked by a stone path along the building's west wall. It widens as it approaches the Fresco hall, creating a false perspective and drawing you down its length. Arriving in front of the Virgin and Child, visitors are kept at a distance by an incline in the stone path.

Objects in this exhibition are disposed with great care. Each has been given space, so that they can be contemplated in isolation, but is related to its neighbour, and its disposition is designed to focus the eye as you turn in space. Lighting increases the drama. Set in the luminous halls, each object is moulded by luminance emitted by optic fibres incorporated into austere and reticent stands.

1 Fresco hall with stone incline separating visitors from the fresco.

2 Entrance to museum with apse and bell tower of San Antimo cathedral.

3 Paved forecourt with marble architrave by Andrea Guardl.

4 Primitives hail with Populonian font and lion's head.

5 Stone passage to Fresco hall.

6 Guardi hall and has relief of Madonna and Child supported on minimal metal stand.

7 Cloister with stone objects supported by metal shelves and brackets.

8 Cloister, newly plastered and repaired with halls behind.

9 Slot cut into dividing wall permits view of fresco on entering museum.

1. entrance

2. paved forecourt

3. Primitiyes

4. Fresco

5. stone incline

6. store path

7. Guardi

8. cloisters

Architect

Anconello Boschi Architetto

Photographs

Alessandro Ciampi