The Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna was founded in 1808 as the picture gallery of the Accademia di Belle Arti, the educational institute that rose from the ashes of the 18th-century Accademia Clementina. The ancient body of works, which came from the Istituto delle Scienze [Science Institute], was further augmented by the extraordinary collection of almost a thousand paintings originating from the suppressions of churches and convents carried out after Napoleon’s troops entered Bologna between 1797 and 1810. Throughout the 19th century, new rooms and works were added to the museum, the result of the 1866 suppressions put in force by the new Italian state, but also thanks to bequests and acquisitions. In 1882, the Pinacoteca became independent from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna.
The visitors’ itinerary begins with the extensive examples of 14th-century Bolognese art, with works by Pseudo Jacopino, Vitale da Bologna and Simone dei Crocefissi. Particularly noteworthy are Giotto’s polyptych and the section dedicated to the frescoes from the small church of Santa Maria di Mezzaratta, recomposed according to the original architectural structure.
Highlights of the Renaissance are the Bolognese Francesco Francia and Amico Aspertini, as well as the Ferrara-born Lorenzo Costa, Francesco del Cossa with the “Pala dei Mercanti [Altarpiece of the Merchants]” and Ercole de’ Roberti with the small fragment from the Garganelli Chapel in St. Peter’s Cathedral.
After Raphael’s masterpiece “Ecstasy of St Cecilia” and Parmigianino’s “Pala di Santa Margherita [St Margaret Altarpiece]”, the itinerary arrives at the late 16th-century reformation, reflected in the prolific works of Agostino, Annibale and Ludovico Carracci.
This is followed by the 17th-century milestones in Emilia: the works by Guido Reni, including masterpieces such as the “Slaughter of the Innocents” and the so-called “Pala del voto [Altarpiece on the Bubonic Plague]”; Domenichino’s three extraordinary altarpieces depicting “The Martyrdom of St Agnes”, the “Madonna of the Rosary” and “The Martyrdom of St Peter”; Francesco Albani’s “Baptism of Christ”; Alessandro Tiarini’s “Lamentation over the Dead Christ”, “St Sebastian Cured by Irene” and “St William of Aquitaine receiving the Cowl” by Guercino.
The itinerary ends with the multifaceted 18th century, alternating between works related to the aristocracy and the common people, by Giuseppe Maria Crespi (the “Fattoria [Farm]” and the “Autoritratto [Self-portrait]”), Donato Creti (the two “Tombe allegoriche [Allegorical Tombs]”) and the brothers Gaetano and Ubaldo Gandolfi.