The tour begins in the exhibition rooms, where the six-hundred-year history of the hospital is told from its origins through artefacts and works of art, including portraits of illustrious figures¹ who contributed to the foundation and development of the institution.

The protagonists of the story are the “nocentini”, the girls and boys of various ages who were welcomed by the Hospital. We can see them portrayed in daily activities in the Massacre of the Innocents², or hidden under the great cloak of the Our Lady of the Innocents³: the babies still in swaddling clothes are supported by children wearing white tunics, while the older ones, dressed in black, have the image of the putto in swaddling clothes sewn on their tunic, indicating that they belong to the great family of the Innocents.

The girls and boys left at the hospital were laid in the Pila, a sort of holy water stoup, initially placed outside in the loggia of the façade and, later, inside, in correspondence with a small window that communicated with the entrance loggia.

The care with which each child was welcomed can be seen in the terracotta Nativity scene⁴: the babies left at the hospital were placed between the figures of Mary and Joseph, symbolically taking the place of the Baby Jesus.