Pinacoteca of Brera in Milan

The Brera’s Palace was built in an ancient convent of the XIV century, it belonged to the monastic order of the “Umiliati” and successively was given to the Jesuits, the latter founded here a school. At the beginning of 1600 the Palace took a sober and majestic appearance, thanks to the works made by Francesco Maria Ricchini. In 1773, after the disbanding of Jesuit order, the Collegium of Brera became property of the state and became the seat of one of the most important cultural institutes for will of the empress Maria Teresa d’Austria.
One of the greatest protagonists of Neoclasicism in Italy, Giuseppe Piermarini, worked on the library, the imposing main door that gives onto via Brera and of the courtyard, in the centre of this yard there’s a big statue of Napoleon dressed as Mars the peacemaker. During XIX century courtyards, loggias, corridors was predisposed to keep monuments dedicated to all the greatest men who were in some way linked with Brera’s history.
The Picture Gallery was made in 1776, at the beginning it had the purpose of keeping significant art works destined to the formation of young students but, when Milan became capital of the Italian Reign, it was declared a museum in where there were kept all the pictures coming from the territory took back from the French army.
This Gallery is different from other big and known Italian museums, because it wasn’t born from a private collection, but from a specific political will, it was born from a statal collection. Its patrimony is grown during the years and now here there are conserved works of the most important Italian and European painters of XX century as Modigliani, Morandi, Carrà and Braque.

When: Tuesday – Sunday from 8,30 am to 7,15 pm
Never: Monday, 1st January, 1st May and 25th December
Tickets: 10 €, reduced ticket 7,50 €
How to get here: Metro line 2, stop “Lanza”, Metro line 3, stop “Montenapoleone”. Tram: 1-4-8-12-14-27. Bus: 61, 97