“An important selection of paintings from Ferrara spanning from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries”

The Pinacoteca Nazionale of Ferrara is located on the piano nobile of the Palazzo dei Diamanti, a masterpiece of  Renaissance architecture by  Biagio Rossetti (1447 ca. – 1516), in rooms featuring the magnificent Salone d’Onore and the sixteenth-century apartments of Virginia de’ Medici. The museum offers an important selection of paintings from Ferrara spanning from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries: great Medieval fresco cycles from the Chiesa di San Bartolomeo and the Chiesa di Sant’Andrea; seventeenth-century canvases by Scarsellino, Carlo Bononi and Guercino; and sketches by the Gandolfi and Crespi artist families. Of particular note is the collection of fifteenth-century paintings by the late Gothic masters, followed by Cosmè Tura, Ercole de’ Roberti and other artists of the Ferrara School alongside painters from other Italian schools such as Gentile da Fabriano, Mantegna and Carpaccio. Since its establishment in 1836, the Pinacoteca has been in possession of numerous sixteenth-century altarpieces from churches throughout the city, many of which were made by Garofalo and Bastianino. The former was one of the most talented followers of Raphael in Northern Italy, creating works such as the majestic Costabili Polyptych made in collaboration with the Giorgionesque Dosso Dossi, whilst the latter’s dramatic creations coincided with the end of the Estense domain in Ferrara.