In the church of Corpus Domini and the adjoining monastery, the museum develops that documents the figure of Saint Catherine de Vigri (1413-1463), first lady-in-waiting to Margherita d’Este, then part of the Poor Clares of Corpus Domini in Ferrara, and finally abbess of the first Poor Clare monastery in Bologna, canonized in 1712.
To the left of the nave, the path opens with the chapel where the incorrupt body of the Saint is venerated, seated on a golden throne. Here are exhibited the ‘Madonna of the Apple’ and the ‘Child Jesus’ painted by Catherine herself; the manuscripts of her works, ‘Breviary’ and ‘The Seven Spiritual Weapons’, numerous ex-votos, and reliquaries. Among the relics of the holy Poor Clare, a music enthusiast as well as a painter, is the famous “violeta,” a precious testimony of a 15th-century vielle.
In the adjacent room are preserved small panels executed by Giulio Morina in 1594; the Saint’s bed, some chairs, a 15th-century wooden crucifix, and an embroidered mantle donated by a noble Bolognese family.
