The forty-two years, in which Giovanni II Bentivoglio with the name of gonfaloniere for life, granted to him by the conventions of Paul II (C.E.1465)… - Guido Zucchini

The internal peace in the city of Bologna is matched by a new development of the arts, especially of architecture: so that the destruction of the Palazzo Bentivoglio [in C.E.1507] really seems to mark the death of the elegance and minute and hackneyed decorations of the fifteenth century and the beginning of a new rebirth by classical examples. (p. 116)

Bologna is not as well known as it deserves: its severe beauties, the gloomy appearance of the streets and houses, the escapes of endless porticoes, the play of shadows and lights of its winding streets and its bright squares , the solemn atriums and the sumptuous staircases, the decorative details of its terracottas, the calmness of the C.E.17th-century decorations do not allow the hasty traveler immediate enjoyment and do not elicit cries of admiration. The city, which first of all had an ancient civilization, which radiated so much light through the Studio allied to the flourishing of the highly democratic and humanitarian Municipality, which produced painters to support Baroque art with a magnificent brush, must be loved patiently, must be discovered step by step, corner by corner, act by act, intention by intention. (pp. 170-171)

As the towers thickened, the great bell tower of San Pietro was added to the marvelous group of two hundred dark brick piers, built by Alberto, inzigniero of the Municipality and the Chapter in pure Romanesque style: at his feet the bishop Enrico della Fratta raised his episcopal seat by adorning it with a very high portico with round columns and circular arches. (pp. 38-39)