No gallery outside Italy represents the extraordinary paintings made in Ferrara in the early sixteenth century as well as the National Gallery in London. In addition to an extensive group of works by Garofalo, representing his entire range as an artist, and many exquisite and grotesque miniature narratives by Mazzolino, the Gallery houses a large masterpiece by the short-lived genius known as Ortolano and some of the most dazzling paintings by the eccentric Dosso Dossi. The collection also includes two altarpieces and the highly original Concert by Lorenzo Costa, as well as the Buonvisi altarpiece, the finest late work by Francesco Francia, the leading artist in Bologna in this period.

The catalogue defines the special quality of paintings made in Bologna and Ferrara, describing a distinctive and idiosyncratic local tradition but also tracing the influence first of Perugino and then of Raphael and Titian. The entries are informed both by new archival research and technical analysis information and the catalogue also provides a detailed introduction to the work of each artist. In a valuable contribution to the history of taste, their changing reputations are traced and the important collections to which the paintings belonged are described, as is the manner in which they came into the UK’s national collection.