In the shadow of the Torre dei Lamberti, the Romanesque Palazzo della Ragione is home to Verona's jewel-box Gallery of Modern Art. Reached via the Gothic Scala della Ragione (Stairs of Reason), the collection of paintings and sculpture spans the period from 1840 to 1940 and includes influential Italian artists such as Giorgio Morandi and Umberto Boccioni. Among the numerous highlights are Francesco Hayez' arresting portrait Meditazione (Meditation), Angelo Dall'Oca's haunting Foglie cadenti (Falling Leaves) and Ettore Berladini's darkly humorous I vecchi (Old Men).
The gallery's architectural pièce de résistance is the vaulted Cappella dei Notai (Chapel of Notaries), bursting with late-17th and early-18th-century biblical scenes executed by Alessandro Marchesini, Giambattista Bellotti, Santo Prunati and Louis Dorigny.