Edoardo Chiossone Museum of Oriental Art

The Edoardo Chiossone Museum of Oriental Art in Genoa, Italy, ranks among the most significant collections of Asian art in Europe and the foremost of its kind in Italy, alongside comparable institutions in Venice and Rome. Housed within Villetta Di Negro, a public park in the city centre near Piazza Corvetto, the museum overlooks Genoa's historical centre and Via Garibaldi. Its holdings derive from the personal collection of Edoardo Chiossone, a painter and engraver native to Arenzano in the province of Genova, who assembled over 15,000 objects during twenty-three years in Japan from 1875 to 1898. The museum's importance rests both on the breadth of its collections and on its role in preserving one of Europe's largest accumulations of Japanese and Chinese material assembled during the Meiji period.

Chiossone spent his youth in Florence before relocating to Japan, where he directed the Imperial Printing Office in Tokyo. His expertise and standing among Japanese political and cultural elites allowed him to amass a collection of approximately fifteen thousand pieces, facilitated by the dissolution of the feudal system that forced many aristocratic families to sell heirlooms accumulated over centuries. His acquisitions encompassed weapons and armour, Chinese and Japanese bronzes, enamels, ceramics, textiles, lacquerware, and theatrical masks. By the terms of his will, Chiossone bequeathed the collections to the city of Genoa, and they arrived in roughly one hundred cases in 1899.

Following his death, Alfredo Luxoro arranged the initial display on the third floor of the Palazzo dell'Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti. King Victor Emmanuel III inaugurated this first museum on 30 October 1905. The collection remained there until 1942, when it was placed in storage for protection during the Second World War. The original Villa di Negro was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1942, and post-war municipal funds were allocated to construct a dedicated museum building in Villetta Di Negro. Under the direction of Caterina Marcenaro, the museum was incorporated into the reorganisation of Genoa's municipal museum system; she oversaw conservation and planning for a permanent site. Construction proceeded from 1953 to 1970 under architect Mario Labò, with subsequent development by Giorgio Olcese and interior installation by Luciano Grossi Bianchi. The new museum opened to the public on 7 May 1971, its holdings enlarged by municipal purchases of large sculptures, chiefly from China and Siam.

International recognition followed rapidly. In 1989 Japan requested loans for an exhibition in Tokyo, followed by a travelling show in 1990 to Kyoto, Osaka, and Yokohama. In autumn 1991, prints and paintings were lent to London for the exhibition An Italian in Japan. The museum closed in September 2021 for renovation, electrical upgrading, accessibility improvements, and terrace restoration, reopening in late June 2023.

The collection spans the principal phenomena of Japanese artistic, figurative, and decorative culture across history, with additional material from China and Thailand. The permanent exhibition route begins in the large ground-floor hall and continues through Gallery 1 (cases 1-9), Gallery 2 (cases 10-17), and Gallery 5 (cases 18-23), presenting Buddhist art, pre- and proto-scientific archaeology, weapons and armour associated with Japan's military government, and the development and variation of applied and decorative arts. Galleries 3 and 4 host temporary thematic exhibitions that allow rotation of works normally kept in storage, including paintings, woodblock prints, and textiles whose conservation requirements preclude permanent display.

The Buddhist art collection holds exceptional historical and artistic significance. It comprises small bronze statuary from the eighth to the eighteenth centuries, monumental bronze sculptures from the Edo period (1603-1868), small-scale lacquered wood sculptures, liturgical and devotional objects, ritual instruments of esoteric Buddhism, Chinese statues from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries, and Buddhist paintings (butsuga) shown in temporary exhibitions.

The represented iconography includes Nyōrai (Tathāgata), enlightened Buddhas including the historical Shaka Nyōrai (Śākyamuni) and transcendent Buddhas distinguished by mudrā, posture, and throne; Bosatsu (Bodhisattva), perfected beings who defer nirvana, depicted with princely appearance, jewels, and high coiffures; Myō-ō (Vidyārāja), the five guardian kings of Shingon Buddhism, shown with muscular dynamism, multiple arms and heads, weapons, fierce expressions, and flaming aureoles; Shitennō (Lokapāla), the four directional guardians of the cosmos, typically armoured and trampling demons in dynamic poses; and Ten (Deva), Hindu deities assimilated as Buddhist protectors.

The liturgical and ritual objects range from common altar fittings, incense burners, candelabra, and flower vases to metal sutra containers, bronze bells, various gongs, lamps, and lanterns.

The museum occupies a purpose-built structure in Villetta Di Negro, a public park in central Genoa adjacent to Piazza Corvetto with views over the historical centre and Via Garibaldi. The building was constructed from 1953 to 1970 on the site of the destroyed Villa di Negro, which had been ruined by Allied bombardment in 1942. Mario Labò led the architectural design, with later development by Giorgio Olcese and interior installation by Luciano Grossi Bianchi. The terrace was restored during the 2021-2023 closure, preserving its panoramic prospect over Genoa.

The Edoardo Chiossone Museum of Oriental Art is located in Villetta Di Negro, a public park in the centre of Genoa, next to Piazza Corvetto and overlooking the historical centre and Via Garibaldi. It is municipally owned and operated as part of Genoa's museum system. The museum reopened in late June 2023 following renovation work that had closed it since September 2021.