Ozieri, Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art

The Museum of Sacred Art, the latest addition to the diocesan museums of Sardinia (decree of 26/11/2012), is located on the premises of the old Tridentine Seminary, established by Msgr. Giovanni Antioco Azzei (1804-1819), the first bishop of the Bisarchiensis Diocese in 1807. The building, which dates back to the end of the 16th century, was donated in 1690 by the Borgia, feudal lords of the Incontrada del Monte Acuto, for the foundation of the Jesuit college in order to establish the first public schools. Following the suppression of the order in 1773, the building was forfeited by the Sardinian-Piedmontese government to be returned by Vittorio Emanuele to the newly established Diocese of Bisarcio only in 1807.
Memorial of the disappeared dioceses of Castro and Bisarcio, the exhibition itinerary tells through the assets set up the millennial journey of faith of the diocesan community, divided into 8 thematic areas: History; Vestments; Statuary Art; Prayer; Rites; Precious Objects; Processions; the Art Gallery.
Among the works are the exquisitely crafted Castile Cross of the Cathedral of Ozieri (15th century) from the ancient Cathedral of Saint Antiochus of Bisarcio; the Crown of the Assumption (16th century) donated by the Poor Clares to the Cathedral of Ozieri in 1889; Saint George on horseback who kills the dragon (16th century) wooden sculpture in gold upholstery from the lost Saint George.
The art gallery deserves special attention, which returns, within the same environment, the largest number of paintings by the Master of Ozieri, a pseudonym with which one of the most mysterious and fascinating artists operating in the island environment of the 16th century was identified starting in 1939.

Why is it important to visit it
To rediscover, through the artifacts produced by the wise hands of artists and talented artisans as a function of liturgical action, the roots of the Christian identity of a community and a territory where local history intersects and merges with great history.