The building appears as a cluster of houses, with irregular floor plans, closely connected to each other, present in Ferrara from 1205 to 1587, belonging during the fourteenth century to the noble Del Sale (or Dal Sale) family. Many Ferrarese documents record the activities of some members of the family engaged in prominent roles in the municipal administration, closely linked both with ecclesiastical power and with the Este court of Niccolò III, Borso, and Ercole I d'Este. The complex of buildings stands out for the modifications made by the Del Sale family starting from 1330 and for all the years they resided in the palace. Further characterizing the area with a clear medieval imprint is the presence of Palazzo Paradiso in the immediate vicinity. This is an imposing building constructed during the course of the fourteenth century, precisely in 1391, by Alberto V d'Este, which originally housed the University with its main entrance facing Via Gioco del Pallone.

"In its entirety, the small palace has a very simple distribution, with an exact correspondence between the ground floor and the first floor, whose main walls are continuous. On the ground floor, from the loggia, one enters three rooms, of which the two larger lateral ones bear traces of frescoes and decorated wooden ceilings from the fifteenth century. [...] The upper floor is divided in turn into two large frescoed rooms, and from the landing of the intermediate space, the pointed arch door opens (or rather, opened) to the 'hall,' also frescoed on the three internal sides, which occupies the entire width of the building" (Ragghianti 1971, pp. 8-9).

Casa Minerbi - Dal Sale, which briefly housed the Renaissance Studies Institute, has been the seat of the Bassani Study Center since March 4, 2016, coinciding with the anniversary of Giorgio Bassani's birth. This came about following the restoration aimed at repairing the damage caused by the earthquake of 2014, and thanks to the bequest to the Municipality of Ferrara by Professor Portia Anne Prebys, curator of the Center, of an important heritage aimed at illustrating a significant part of the writer's life and work. She describes its content, consisting of "approximately 7500 folders containing writings about Bassani, in eighteen languages, from 1935 to today; about 1000 folders containing writings by Bassani from various sources; about 1000 various editions of Bassani's works in Italian and other languages; and about 5000 books regarding Italian twentieth-century literature, history, and art.

Furthermore, I intend to make the Ferrarese Author known up close, by transferring to the Bassani Study Center the living room of our house in Rome, on Lungotevere a Ripa, where Giorgio lived the last years of his life - we met in 1977 - in every detail, along with other objects that were part of his daily life" (P.A. Prebys, Presentation of the Bassani Study Center, "International Day of Studies GIORGIO BASSANI," Paris, January 31, 2015, in archibiblio.comune.fe.it/2523/presentazione-di-portia-prebys).

The relationship between the writer and Casa Minerbi and the Minerbi family is outlined by the co-curator of the Center, Gianni Venturi: "The history of the family and the relationship that united Giorgio Bassani with the last owner, Giuseppe Minerbi, is told by the events of Ferrara's cultural life, but even more so by the dedication of L'Airone, perhaps the most innovative book by the writer. The most extraordinary figures of Ferrara's social and cultural life passed through Casa Minerbi. A frequent visitor to that house, Paolo Ravenna, bears witness to this. The Ferrara section of Italia Nostra, the great association founded by Giorgio Bassani together with Benedetto Croce's daughter, was born and spread from Casa Minerbi. Refined concerts were held here, often on that 'positive' organ that will return to embellish the great Hall of Vices and Virtues. Finally, here will gather the testimonies of the history of a city that has been able, over many centuries, to impose a new and original vision of both Italian and Jewish culture." (G. Venturi, Presentation of the Bassani Study Center in Ferrara, archibiblio.comune.fe.it/2522/presentazione-di-gianni-venturi).

On February 28, 2023, the Center was awarded the prestigious label "Houses and studies of illustrious persons of Emilia-Romagna".