This building was home, private oratory and bank of the Jewish Sforno family coming from Barcelona that moved to Bologna in the 15th century.

The members of this family stood out for their high cultural level: among them noteworthy is Ovadyah Servadio, an eminent rabbi and scholar, philosopher, physicist and exegete of biblical texts of the late Middle Ages. He was a rabbi in Bologna,  practised medicine and established a school of Talmudic studies, which he ran until his death (1550).