The name “Mountain Museum: Transhumants and Pitturi” provides an indication of the close relationship between those who departed (the transhumant shepherds in the Roman countryside who left the village for nine months of the year), those who arrived such as the travelling artists and, clearly those who stayed at home (the local farmers and cattle breeders and the women, who were fundamental to the local economy).

 

The name of the museum becomes even more important due to the “Sculpted mountain” which was begun in the early Eighties by the sculptor Bianchi and his pupils. Together they renewed the tradition of the “pitturi”. These were artists who lived in the town centre during the 19th and 20th C. painting the village and its women dressed in very elaborate dresses, as can be seen in the reproductions acquired from an important private collection.

The small museum, which covers two floors, has main sections dedicated to sheep-farming, to the major ceremonial cycles, women’s activities and local traditions, which went hand in hand with goldsmithing, agriculture, crafts, religiousness and to the Munistrigliu district which hosted the rural sanctuary of the Madonna della Portella and the fountain and wash-house, a very important meeting point for the village women, portrayed by the 19th – 20th C. “pitturi”.  

 

What’s more the visitor is provided with a special information kit in Italian, English and in Braille. There is a small library specialising in local history and connected to teaching activities, plus a video library, tape library and the archives of the Madonna della Portella Confraternity.

On request groups and school parties can be supplied with guided tours by specifically trained personnel, with learning aids provided through sign language, the creation of a hypertext and an audio-guide for the visitors.

 

The museum also has a separate structure called “Il nuovo Icaro” (The New Icarus) which is set aside for modern and contemporary art.