Loved, venerated, awaited every year by thousands of citizens, the Blessed Virgin of San Luca is fully one of the sacred (and not only) symbols of the city of Bologna. But how many can say they really know her story? How did “la Dotta” come to dominate from the top of Monte della Guardia? With passion, this volume traces the sources that generated the legend, comparing them with documentary data, and investigates the origin of the iconographic "type" - developed in Constantinople - also coming to propose a reasonable dating and cultural provenance. Large space is then dedicated to the history of its maintenance, presented through timely and detailed photographic documentation of the phases of the intervention; we focus in particular on the last restoration - carried out in two stages and directed by the author. Preface by Matteo Maria Zuppi, Cardinal of Bologna.