Luigi Bailo

Born in Treviso in 1835 and living for nearly a century, Abbot Luigi Bailo left a profound mark on the cultural life of the city.
A scholar and writer, Bailo graduated in Philosophy from the University of Padua and taught Literature at the Canova High School. He also served as secretary of the Ateneo Veneto. He held liberal views that often brought him into conflict with the local ecclesiastical authorities and was deeply engaged in the fervent atmosphere of the Italian Risorgimento, frequently contributing articles to contemporary newspapers such as Il Monitor di Treviso.
For over fifty years, he served as director of the Civic Library, overseeing its relocation in 1878 from the building facing Piazza dei Signori—designed by the architect Bomben—to the former Carmelite convent complex, where it would occupy the ancient space of the Church of the Discalced Carmelites. He meticulously reorganized and expanded the collection through donations and acquisitions.
With the opening of the Library, Bailo also founded the Museo Trivigiano within the same building: a heterogeneous collection he had assembled over the years, which included archaeological materials (such as the Roman lapidary), frescoes detached from palaces and religious buildings in the city, ceramics and applied art objects, as well as ancient and modern paintings and sculptures gradually arranged within the convent spaces.
The Museum, which opened to the public in 1888, was the result of the abbot’s tireless efforts in researching and recovering historical artifacts and protecting local heritage—a mission he often shared with artists and restorers such as Antonio Carlini and the Botter family.
One well-known episode is the 1883 rescue of the fresco cycle The Stories of Saint Ursula by Tommaso da Modena, located in the Church of Santa Margherita and at risk of destruction. These frescoes are now preserved in the Church of Santa Caterina.
A patron and supporter of young artists (including Arturo Martini), Bailo made significant acquisitions—often using his own personal funds—that became part of the museum’s collection. One notable example is The Artist’s Family, a masterpiece by a sixteen-year-old Francesco Hayez.
He was among the first advocates of merging the Municipal Art Gallery with the Museo Trivigiano, envisioning a cultural and educational hub for ancient and modern art history in the Borgo Cavour site, combined with the Library and municipal archives.
The Art Gallery, of which he served as interim curator from 1879 to 1881, then shared the same building in Piazza dei Signori with the Library. Confiscated during the First World War, it remained without a permanent location for years.
The merger and necessary reorganization of the collections—carried out according to modern museological principles—were completed in the second half of the 1930s by Luigi Coletti, Bailo’s successor, following the abbot’s death in 1932.