Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery was born from the private collection of the nobleman Giuseppe Ricci Oddi from Piacenza, who between 1897 and 1923 gathered a large selection of artworks dating between 1800 and 1900. The building was designed by the architect Giulio Ulisse Arata from Piacenza. 

The artworks on show are distributed in 20 rooms, among which few are dedicated specifically to Fontanesi, Mancini, Bruzzi, foreign artists, and Italian 20th century art. The section dedicated to the 19th century gathers very important works, among which "Ritratto d'uomo" (1834) by Francesco Hayez, two paintings by Giovanni Cornovali called ‘Piccio’, "La partenza del coscritto" by Girolamo Induno. 

Among the artworks of the Macchiaioli group there are paintings by Giovanni Fattori, Silvestro Lega, Telemaco Signorini, Raffaello Sarnesi, and Giuseppe Abbati. Scapigliatura group is represented by Tranquillo Cremona, Daniele Ranzoni, and Luigi Conconi. 

There are also numerous paintings by two of the most important artists from Piacenza of the Realism movement in the second half of the 19th century: Stefano Bruzzi and Francesco Ghittoni. The 20th century is represented by "Ritratto della madre" by Boccioni and other important artists. The Ricci Oddi collection was donated to the city of Piacenza in 1924.