Located on the top floor of the Palazzo dei Musei, on the St. Augustine square, the museum showcases a vast array of works ranging from fresco and oil painting to marble, polychrome and terracotta sculpture; musical instruments; numismatics; curios and decorative antiques.

Although for the most part centred around Italian painters, it also includes a modest number of Flemish, German and French artworks (Workshop of van Eyck; Aelbrecht Bouts; Charles Le Brun), as well as non-Western examples from Sierra Leone and Iran.

A rare musical instrument, the double harp's 148 cm were crafted entirely by hand through a collaboration between five Ferrarese and Flemish artists: Giacometti, Marescotti, Bastarolo, Rosselli and Lamberti.

[2] The gallery also houses a Madonna and Child and a Telamon by the Modenese sculptor Wiligelmo, an 18th century coral nativity scene and a still-life carved in wood celebrating the ascension of James II of England.

As for the remaining works in Ferrara, Cesare, who was perhaps not as fond of art patronage as his ancestors, did not hesitate to donate large parts of the collection to seek favour with powerful political figures, notably the Cardinal Borghese and Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Not only does it effortlessly capture the duke's likeness and bravura, Bernini also never once laid eyes on his subject in the flesh, using effigies by Justus Sustermans and Jean Boulanger as prompts instead.

To overcome the reluctance of the sculptor, who in a letter to the duke’s brother, Cardinal Rinaldo, judged the task as not only extremely difficult but reckless, an exorbitant sum of 3000 scudi was offered, the exact amount paid to Bernini by the Pope Innocent X for his Four Rivers Fountain in Rome.

The duchess did not contribute to the gallery purchases, dedicating herself for the most part to charitable works and the construction of churches and convents, with the aim of repairing a state severely affected by the outbreak of plague and the Thirty Years' War.

In order to raise funds, the duke decided to sell the finest pieces of the collection to Augustus III of Poland for the considerable sum of 100,000 Venetian zecchini (the equivalent of around 650 kg of gold).

[8] Thus, in July 1746, works by Giulio Romano, Andrea del Sarto, Rubens, Velázquez, Holbein, Titian, Parmigianino, Correggio, Guercino, Guido Reni, Carracci, and many others embarked for Dresden.

Such was the reputation of the d’Este collections, (the French letterato Charles de Brosses considered it "undoubtedly the finest in Italy”[7]) it also attracted the eye of Napoleon.

Of the previously enviable selection reflecting high Renaissance practices which included the likes of Correggio, Parmigianino, Giulio Romano, Perino del Vaga, the Carracci brothers, Botticelli's Calumny of Apelles, and a Judgement of Solomon by the workshop of Mantegna, only 700 remain.

In 1822, a newfound interest in early Italian "Primitive" paintings prompted the acquisitions from the rich collection of Marquis Tommaso degli Obizzi, including works by Barnaba da Modena, Apollonio di Giovanni, Bartolomeo Bonascia and Francesco Bianchi Ferrari.

Never-before-seen works were retrieved from storage, new lighting and a microclimate system supporting the conservation of exhibits and digital displays were installed, ensuring the Estense Gallery remains a nucleus of culture to both locals and tourists travelling off the beaten track on their way from Venice to Rome.