Construction was commenced on the church and convent of St Ursola in 1608 by Antonio Maria Viani, painter and architect at the service of the Gonzaga family, to a commission from Margherita Gonzaga, Duchess of Ferrara and widow of Alfonso II d'Este.
The original construction (a small church with 50 annexed rooms, for as many Poor Clare nuns) was completed in 1612. In the period of the suppressions (between 1782 and 1786) the convent was used as barracks and later converted to a city hospital.
On 8 August 1944, a cluster of bombs seriously damaged the entire old complex, although the facade of the church, modernised by Giovanni Cherubini, in 1850 survived. Paintings from its fine picture gallery can now be admired in the collections of Palazzo Ducale.
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