The Lercaro Collection was born from the union of the personal works acquired by Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro (Archbishop of Bologna from 1952 to 1968) with those that artists, collectors or simple admirers, over time, wanted to donate to him as a sign of profound esteem.

The first "gift" dates back to 1971 and is represented by the homage of four Bolognese artists ( Aldo Borgonzoni, Pompilio Mandelli, Enzo Pasqualini, Ilario Rossi ) to the Cardinal on the occasion of his 80th birthday. This is the event which gave rise to the idea of opening up the enjoyment of the works to all by setting them up in the rooms of Villa San Giacomo, the Cardinal's residence on the hills of Bologna.

In the following years, the gradual opening to an increasingly wider public and the increase in donations made it necessary to organize it according to museographic criteria. An initial work carried out by Franco Solmi was followed by the artistic direction of Marilena Pasquali who, in 2003, also took care of the transfer to the current headquarters, renovated thanks to the contribution of the Carisbo Foundation. Finally, in 2008, HE Monsignor Ernesto Vecchi, President of the Lercaro Foundation , appointed Andrea Dall'Asta SJ as artistic director, who, respecting the original structure of the collection according to the concept of Wunderkammer (chamber of wonders), rethought the installation as an expression of an active dialogue between ancient and contemporary .

The permanent collection today includes works by Giacomo Manzù, Arturo Martini, Francesco Messina, Mimmo Paladino, Vittorio Tavernari, Giovanni Boldini, Georges Rouault, Ettore Spalletti and many others. Among the paintings and graphics, works by Giacomo Balla, Filippo de Pisis, Renato Guttuso, Antonio Mancini, Giorgio Morandi, Adolfo Wildt . These dialogue with some valuable ancient works, including a plaster tondo depicting a Madonna del Latte (late 15th-16th century) and three Flemish-made tapestries (late 16th-early 17th century).