The ‘Agostino Pepoli’ Regional Museum is one the city’s most prestigious institution and is located in the former convent of the Carmelite Fathers (dating back to the 14th century) rising next to the Madonna di Trapani Sanctuary. It is one of the most emblematic museums of applied arts, characterized by its collection of Trapani coral works that once made the city famous, as well as silver, majolica and 17th/18th-century nativity sculptures made of coral, marine materials and papier-maché.
Named after its founder, Count Agostino Pepoli, who founded it between 1906 and 1909, it also collects the following significant works:
- Sculptures including a St. James, a masterpiece by Antonello Gagini (1522) and statues of the Gagini school;
- Paintings, widely representing artistic culture in Western Sicily from the 13th to the 19th centuries: of particular significance a precious polyptych of the early 15th century attributed to an unknown painter named simply ‘Master of the Trapani Polyptych’ and a painting depicting St. Francis receiving the stigmata, attributed to Titian;
- Jewels belonging to the treasure of the Madonna di Trapani;
- Vestments and antique clothing;
- majolica, including the floors depicting fishing scenes;
- Relics of the Risorgimento, witnessing to the province’s participation in the Unification of Italy.
