The museum is located in a refurbished villa on Via della Quarquonia, completed in 1418 for Paolo Guinigi, ruler of Lucca until 1430.

After his death, the building was confiscated by the republic, and it has served various purposes over the years.

In 1948 it was donated to the Italian state, which carried out a more organized preservation campaign and at the same time rearranged the collection, subsequently distributing it between this villa and the Palazzo Mansi.

Once elaborately decorated by Guinigi, it now houses collections of mainly the ancient, medieval, renaissance, baroque, and neoclassic periods.

[1] Media related to Museo Nazionale di Villa Guinigi (Lucca) at Wikimedia Commons