Castello di San Martino di Soverzano Collection Exhibited at Palazzo Fava

Michelangelo Poletti, president of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna, purchased the Castello di San Martino di Soverzano in 1995 and spent years assembling a collection of over 130 paintings to furnish it. The collection, focused on Emilian painting from the 15th to 18th centuries, is now on display at Palazzo Fava in Bologna. The castle, founded by the Ariosti family in the 14th century, was later owned by the Manzoli family for over three centuries. It was restored in the 1880s by Tito Azzolini under Alfonso Rubbiani and Corrado Ricci. The exhibition features works by Lorenzo Pasinelli, Donato Creti, Ercole Graziani, Lavinia Fontana, Elisabetta Sirani, Marco Palmezzano, Antonio Pirri, Bartolomeo Passerotti, Simone Cantarini, and Pelagio Palagi. Antonio Paolucci described the collection as 'Rinascimento nelle Romagne'. Poletti stated he sought works with 'character' and historical significance rather than big names. The show includes a terracotta Bacco by Creti and a Presentation of the Child in the Temple by Pirri.