Pinacoteca Stuard

The core is the bequest of Giuseppe Stuard (1790 to 1834), an administrator of the Congregation of San Filippo Neri and a wealthy collector, who left his pictures to the city's charitable congregation. The city describes today's collection as archaeological finds, drawings, prints, paintings, sculpture, furniture and objects from late antiquity to the 20th century, all tied to Parma and its territory.

Names to look for:

• Gold-ground panels from 14th-century Tuscany, including works by Bernardo Daddi and Niccolo di Tommaso.
• A greyhound drawing attributed to Parmigianino, which the museum uses as its symbol.
• 17th-century painting by Guercino, Guido Reni, Giovanni Lanfranco, Bartolomeo Schedoni and Mattia Preti, with Flemish work by Frans Denys.
• 18th-century pictures including Sebastiano Ricci and Bernardo Bellotto.
• 19th-century Parma: a large group of paintings by artists linked to the city's Academy of Fine Arts.

For most first-time visitors, the Galleria Nazionale in the Pilotta comes first: it has Leonardo, Correggio and Parmigianino at full strength. The Stuard is a civic collection of good second-rank pictures.

It earns its €4 in three situations:

• On a Monday, when the Pilotta is closed and the Stuard is open.
• If you like early Italian panels: the Tuscan gold grounds are the most distinctive part.
• With the city pass, if you are also doing the Casa del Suono, Toscanini's birthplace and the Museo dell'Opera.

On weekends the museum runs free guided visits and children's workshops, according to the tourism portal; ask at the desk for times.

The city groups three museums in the former monastery as the Musei Civici di San Paolo:

The Castello dei Burattini, dedicated to the Parma puppeteer Giordano Ferrari, holds one of Italy's major puppet-theater collections and is a good add-on with children. The old monastery gardens, the Giardini di San Paolo, are listed by the city as a public cultural space.

Monday is when Parma's state and several civic museums close, which is exactly when the Stuard is useful. From the opening hours we checked on September 29, 2026:

A Monday that works: the Baptistery at 10 a.m., the Stuard before lunch, the free Duomo over lunch when it stays open, San Giovanni after 3 p.m. Save the Pilotta for Tuesday.

The entrance is on Borgo del Parmigianino, a short street between the Duomo and the Pilotta. Walking distances we measured: about 180 m from the Duomo, 400 m from Piazza Garibaldi and 430 m from the Pilotta. It fits naturally into the Correggio and Parmigianino walk, and on a Monday it is a useful stop on the historic centre loop.

The city lists the building as fully accessible, without architectural barriers.