In this room are exposed works realised in the second half of the XVIth century, that are therefore prior or contemporary to the naturalist Carraccis revolution, maintening in their compositiion a strict adherence to the Mannerist style.

Artworks by artist such as Giorgio Vasari, Camillo Procaccini, Prospero Fontana and Bartolomeo Passerotti, an important protagonist of the late Bolognese Mannerism, in which a penchant for naturalism is a divresion from the intellectual schemes of that period.

The severe composition and the devotional faith of Bartolomeo Cesi's painting are the introdoction to the following room, dedicated to the Carracci family.