The Capuchin Museum

The creation of the Museum of the Friars Minor Capuchin of the Roman Province is designed to highlight the spirituality of a religious order whose cornerstones are intense mysticism, a simple and sober way of life, constant involvement with people, and a strong but gentle spirit of brotherly love. The eight rooms of the museum set up inside the friary host a series of sections devoted to its origins and history as well as the life of those who joined the order and drew inspiration from the example of extraordinary Capuchin saints like Felix of Cantalice, Crispin of Viterbo and Joseph of Leonessa but also contemporary figures known to the public on a vast scale, such as St Pio of Pietrelcina, who bore the stigmata for fifty years, and Father Mariano of Turin, the first multimedia preacher.The museum is also a new repository for the artistic and historical legacy of the Capuchins of Rome and the region of Lazio, as its rooms are in fact designed not only to house and exhibit the various items but also to ensure their preservation. To this end, the opening of the museum was preceded by major work to restore the original splendour not only of various kinds of artworks, books and documents but also and above all Capuchin liturgical vessels and articles of everyday use epitomizing the spirit of humble self-sufficiency that is the hallmark of the order. Encapsulating the extraordinarily rich experience of nearly 500 years of Capuchin life, this museum is concerned not only with preserving the past but also with projecting itself into the future as a sort of ongoing laboratory of initiatives, a venue for exhibitions, cultural events and spiritual experiences aimed at establishing dialogue and asserting the continuing primacy of the human dimension today.