In 1926, in celebration of the 700th anniversary of St Francis, the field adjacent to the Piazza of the church was converted into a public garden, and a bronze statue of the Saint by Mario Sarto was erected.
[1] A museum, founded in 1928 by father Leonardo Montalti of Mercato Saraceno, is now hosted in the convent of the Frati Minori Cappuccini just outside Porta Saragozza.
It collects works of art from various Capuchin order convents of the Emilia-Romagna region, including Ferrara, Porretta, Castel San Pietro, Imola, and Lugo.
The museum also has works of ivory and a large terracotta Madonna and child (1523), called Sedes Sapientiae by Zaccaria Zacchi; two wooden tabernacles from Lugo, one of them signed by Cesare Fabbri (1706); and some terracota nativity scenes, one by Rossetti.
Other artists in the museum are Innocenzo da Imola, Lavinia Fontana, Dionigi Calvaert, Ubaldo Gandolfi, Luigi Crespi, Ercole Graziani the Younger, Piancastelli and Majani.