The Collection

Foto: Peter de Ru
The Museum San Michele’s collection contains objects from different cultures and ranging over a long period, from around 1250 BC to the beginning of the 20th Century.

The collection consists of 1647 objects, of which around one-quarter are antiquities. One interesting and unusual piece is the Egyptian sphinx in red and black granite from the time of Ramses II in the chapel loggia. A small collection from the Etruscan period includes a sphinx in marble, urns in a variety of materials and a sculptured head in terracotta. Most of the Roman antiquities are represented by inscriptions, mosaics, opus reticulatum, sculptures and columns.

Medieval bifora and trifora windows with Roman antiquities such as capitals, columns, and bases adorn the facades and interiors. In the atrium there is the Roman fountain from "Sepolte vive-klostret" in Naples, and the Medusa mask in the studio belongs to the group of Medusa sculptures that come from the Venus temple in Rome.

In the chapel there are archeological finds, and objects that illustrate medieval church art as well as the Neapolitan Renaissance. One highlight of Renaissance ironwork is the tent bed from Sicily in the bedroom. A significant collection of 18th Century furniture, mostly from Tuscany and the Veneto region is particularly well-represented on the upper floor of the museum. In the dining room and the kitchen there are important collections of 18th Century Swedish pewter and Lombard copper vessels from the 16th Century.

In the garden there are primarily displays of archeological objects as well as medieval Italian antiquities. The museum also owns Swedish 19th Century china, but other countries, especially Italy, are represented with household utensils. Some of Sweden’s Queen Victoria’s estate was bought by Axel Munthe after her death in 1930, and can also be found within the San Michele Foundation property.

Axel Munthe’s documents and some of his personal effects, such as doctor’s equipment and the manuscript of his book ”The Story of San Michele", are also found in the collection.

Visitors and visitors to this website can see photographs of all the objects, and can even search our object database where there is more information about the objects in the collection. Welcome!

Yvonne Frykberg