According to 18th-century Italian art historian Luigi Crespi, it was cardinal Prospero Lambertini, who would later become Pope Benedict XIV, the one who planned a Gallery for  altarpieces  in the churches of the city.

The gallery's first nucleus of works came from the acquisition in 1762 by monsignor Francesco Zambeccari of eight early 15th-century altarpieces, salvaged from the demolition of Saint Mary Magdalene's church.
Bought for the Istituto delle Scienze, the art pieces were to be preserved by the Accademia Clementina, the Institute's artistic section.
In 1776 a dozen of 13th-century altarpieces and Byzantine icons, which came from Urbano Savorgnan's legacy and formerly located at the Saint Philip Neri's Oratory, were also bought for the Accademia.

Another Bolognese conservation pole was the Appartamento del Gonfaloniere at the Palazzo Pubblico.
From the late 16th century onwards, the Appartamento had been housing paintings from artists such as Vitale da Bologna, Raphael (The Ecstasy of St. Cecilia), Cima da Conegliano, Lorenzo Costa, Francesco Francia, Pietro Perugino (Madonna in Glory with Saints)  and Annibale Carracci, alongside works like the Pala del Voto by Guido Reni, preserved there for their high civic significance (another painting by Reni in the museum is the Massacre of the Innocents, 1611.
According to 18th-century Italian art historian Luigi Crespi, it was cardinal Prospero Lambertini, who would later become Pope Benedict XIV, the one who planned a Gallery for  altarpieces  in the churches of the city.
The gallery's first nucleus of works came from the acquisition in 1762 by monsignor Francesco Zambeccari of eight early 15th-century altarpieces, salvaged from the demolition of Saint Mary Magdalene's church. Bought for the Istituto delle Scienze, the art pieces were to be preserved by the Accademia Clementina, the Institute's artistic section. In 1776 a dozen of 13th-century altarpieces and Byzantine icons, which came from Urbano Savorgnan's legacy and formerly located at the Saint Philip Neri's Oratory, were also bought for the Accademia.
Another Bolognese conservation pole was the Appartamento del Gonfaloniere at the Palazzo Pubblico. From the late 16th century onwards, the Appartamento had been housing paintings from artists such as Vitale da Bologna, Raphael (The Ecstasy of St. Cecilia), Cima da Conegliano, Lorenzo Costa, Francesco Francia, Pietro Perugino (Madonna in Glory with Saints)  and Annibale Carracci, alongside works like the Pala del Voto by Guido Reni, preserved there for their high civic significance (another painting by Reni in the museum is the Massacre of the Innocents, 1611.
Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna