The museum houses the conspicuous collection belonging to Bishop Mons. Giuseppe Battaglia, a keen art enthusiast who, during his lifetime, has mainly collected paintings with a local or Lombardy origin, or those of the Diocese and other Diocesan Ecclesiastical Organizations. Most of the works were destined for worship and are an example of local religious traditions, filtered down by the artistic dimensions of unheard of or unknown artists, with characteristics which are both sophisticated and humble, if not common.
The rooms in the Palazzo Vescovile, that house the museum, are themselves of great historical importance; the surviving frescoes in the Magna Hall in the Bishop’s residence are of extreme historical value, one of the most ancient testimonials of medieval art in Faenza.