San Giuseppe Sposo is a medieval

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church and convent, now respectively parish church and museum, near Porta Saragozza in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

, Italy.

History

Originally the site was part of an

Augustinian order Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

Cluniac monastery originating in 1254; the church was then dedicated to Santa Maria Maddalena in Valdipietra. The monastery later passed on to nuns, and later the

Dominican order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

. In 1566, it housed the Servi di Maria, who named the church ''San Giuseppe''. In 1810, the convent was suppressed. However, after Napoleon's defeat, in 1818, the

Capuchin order The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...

, with 11 priests and 16 lay brothers, were granted the church and monastery. In 1865–1866, the Kingdom of Italy expropriated the site for military uses. In 1873, the church was reconsecrated, and the monastery reused in 1892. In 1926, in celebration of the 700th anniversary of St Francis, the field adjacent to the Piazza of the church was converted into a public garden, and a bronze statue of the Saint by

Mario Sarto Mario Sarto (13 October 1885 – 13 September 1955) was an important sculptor of religious and commemorative art, renowned for the vast statuary present in the Monumental Cemetery of Bologna. Many of his statues are also located in the main squ ...

was erected. The convent suffered grievously during the Second World War, including the destruction of its once large library. In 1943, the church was named a sanctuary, and in 1959, made a parish church.

Museum

A museum, founded in 1928 by father Leonardo Montalti of Mercato Saraceno, is now hosted in the convent of the Frati Minori Cappuccini just outside Porta Saragozza. It collects works of art from various Capuchin order convents of the Emilia-Romagna region, including Ferrara, Porretta, Castel San Pietro,

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical ...

, and Lugo. In the 1970s, the architect

Leone Pancaldi Leone may refer to: Geography *Leone, American Samoa *Monte Leone, mountain in the ''Leone-Gruppe'' as part of Western Alps *Sierra Leone, independent nation in West Africa Leone as a given name * Leone Battista Alberti (1404–1472), Italian R ...

rearranged the exhibition space, giving special prominence to the ''Crucifix'' by Marco Zoppo, by creating an apse for exhibition. Other major works are a ''Madonna of the Rose'' by Pietro Lianori; a ''Coronation of the Virgin'' by Jacopo di Paolo; an ''Adoration by the Magi'' by Flaminio Torri; a ''Crucifixion'' by the Passerotti brothers; a ''St Francis in Ecstasy'' by

Bartolomeo Cesi Bartolomeo Cesi (; 16 August 1556 – 11 July 1629) was an Italian painter and draftsman of the Bolognese School.Andrea Bayer. "Cesi, Bartolomeo" Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 7 November 2020 He made ea ...

; a ''Deposition of Christ'' by

Gaetano Gandolfi Gaetano Gandolfi (31 August 1734 – 20 June 1802) was an Italian painter of the late Baroque and early Neoclassic period, active in Bologna. Career Gaetano was born in San Matteo della Decima, near Bologna, to a family of artists. Ubaldo ...

; and two ovals with ''St Peter and Paul'' by

Giuseppe Maria Crespi Giuseppe Maria Crespi (March 14, 1665 – July 16, 1747), nicknamed Lo Spagnuolo ("The Spaniard"), was an Italian late Baroque painter of the Bolognese School. His eclectic output includes religious paintings and portraits, but he is now most ...

. The museum also has works of ivory and a large terracotta ''Madonna and child'' (1523), called ''Sedes Sapientiae'' by Zaccaria Zacchi; two wooden tabernacles from Lugo, one of them signed by Cesare Fabbri (1706); and some terracota nativity scenes, one by Rossetti. Other artists in the museum are

Innocenzo da Imola Innocenzo (di Pietro) Francucci (c. 1490 – c. 1550), generally known as Innocenzo da Imola, was an Italian painter and draftsman. Biography The son of a goldsmith named Pietro, he was born in Imola sometime around 1490. After presuma ...

Lavinia Fontana Lavinia Fontana (August 24, 1552 – August 11, 1614) was a Bolognese Mannerist painter active in Bologna and Rome. She is best known for her successful portraiture, but also worked in the genres of mythology and religious painting. She was trai ...

, Dionigi Calvaert, Ubaldo Gandolfi, Luigi Crespi, Ercole Graziani the Younger, Piancastelli and Majani.Museums of Bologna
in citta metropolitana site.

References

{{coord missing, Italy Giuseppe Sposo Museums in Bologna Giuseppe Sposo