The exhibition is set up in the spaces of the historic convent of
Santa Caterina
In the XIV century, the Municipality of Treviso granted, to the Servants of Mary, the area to the construct the convent and the church dedicated to Saint Catherine. The convent was suppressed in 1772, and all religious correlations ceased, the buildings of the complex became state property and used as military warehouses. This caused severe adjustments to the architecture and decorations of the convent, as well as all the artistic heritage and furnishings disappearing.
Mario Botter, restorer and art lover from Treviso, following the severe damage suffered during the bombings in the Second World War, worked on the complex bringing to light an incredible fourteenth-century pictorial cycle, hidden for centuries under the anonymous plaster that whitened the walls of the church. It is an exceptional anthology of paintings from the Venetian hinterland dated from the mid-fourteenth century to the first decades of the fifteenth century, culminating with frescoes now traceable to Gentile da Fabriano and his coveted. These discoveries favored the decision to restore the entire complex for cultural functions. In 1967, due to Carlo Scarpa organizing an excellent exhibition on Arturo Martini, the municipal administration conclusively decided to transform the whole area into a museum. The restoration, however, continued with particular commitment from the late 1990s until the present day, the building has finally become the headquarters of the Treviso Civic Museums.