Fondazione Istituto Gazzola was born thanks to the last will of the Count General Felice Gazzola published on 20 March 1771. The heritage was left in the hands of a Congregation, which decided to create an art school inside the palace in Piacenza that once belonged to the Gazzola family. All the best artists from Piacenza of the 19th century revolved around this institution. 

In the 19th century the school also included a Museum, which immediately became an important reference for students. In 1838 the Institution acquired the first core of paintings thanks to the donation of Dr. Cesare Martelli, 42 artworks among which the names of Antonio Campi, Gian Mauro Della Rovere called Fiamminghino, Miradori, Piola, Giovanni Andrea De Ferrari, Guidobono, Bonifacio dei Pitati, the Altdorfer school, Mattia Preti, Giuseppe Maria Crespi, Della Vecchia, Benedetti Luti, Luigi Mussi, and Carlo Maria Viganoni stand out. Other donations followed, and the museum today exhibits “L'incontro di Ettore con Andromaca” and “Ettore rimprovera Paride”, youth paintings by Gaspare Landi praised in a sonnet by Ippolito Pindemonte.