This is the only museum in Cefalù, and it was started as a private collection by Baron Enrico Pirajno of Mandralisca, who collected numerous art objects by placing them in his home, where they are still found today.
The museum is rather eclectic: you can see here paintings, Greek vases and other archaeological findings, furniture, Egyptian ushabtis, coins, a malacological collection, stuffed animals.
The unmissable works are:
- "Ritratto d'ignoto marinaio" (portrait of an unknown sailor), by Antonello da Messina. The dating is controversial (1465 or 1470-1472), and the person depicted is unknown, perhaps a noble or wealthy fifteenth-century character
- San Giovanni Battista (St. John the Baptist), recently found and restored, attributed to Giovanni Antonio Sogliani from the early 1500s.
- Saints Helena and Constantine, panel by the painter Giovanni Mosco