



Palazzo Brera
The palazzo was built on the remains of a 14th century monastery of the Umiliati order which was subsequently given to the Jesuits, who founded a school here. Francesco Maria Richini began in the early 17th century to turn it into the solidly austere building we see today.

When the Jesuits were disbanded in 1773, the Collegio di Brera became state property and Empress Maria Theresa of Austria decided to use it to house several of the city’s leading cultural institutes. In addition to the Accademia di Belle Arti and the Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere, she also assigned the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense, the Osservatorio Astronomico and the Orto Botanico to her new foundation.

The man commissioned to design and execute the work was Giuseppe Piermarini, one of Italy’s leading Neoclassical architects. He was responsible for renovating the library (one room of which can be seen in Room I in the Pinacoteca, or picture gallery), for building the solemn entrance on Via Brera and for completing the courtyard. A bronze statue of Napoleon in the guise of Mars the Peacemaker, cast in Rome to a design by Antonio Canova, was erected in the centre of the courtyard in 1859. Porticos, courtyards, hallways and corridors were chosen throughout the 19th century as settings for monuments publicly celebrating artists, benefactors, humanists and scientists associated with Brera and the Braidense. The best works in this extremely rich and little-known collection include the monuments to Cesare Beccaria by Pompeo Marchesi and to Giuseppe Parini by Gaetano Monti which can be admired on the monumental staircase leading up to the Pinacoteca.

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The Collection Online/ 670 records
Portrait of Massimo d’Azeglio
Francesco HayezVision of St. Jerome
Pierre SubleyrasFlagellation (verso)
Master of the Poldi Pezzoli Diptych (or of the Cini Diptych)St. Roch
Palma il Vecchio (Jacopo Negretti)The Family Concert
Pietro LonghiThe Three Archangels
Marco d'OggionoChrist Carrying the Cross
Alessandro MagnascoPortrait of a Gentleman
Marianna CarlevarijsMadonna and Child with St. Job and St. Gothard
Marcello FogolinoRitratto di uomo
Pittore VenezianoThe Young St. John the Baptist
Bernardo StrozziSaint Aloysius Gonzaga
Gian Domenico TiepoloSelf-Portrait
Giuseppe Maria CrespiOur Lady of Mount Carmel with St. Simon Stock, St.Teresa of Avila, St. Albert of Vercelli, the Prophet Elijah and the Souls in Purgatory
Giovanni Battista TiepoloPortrait of a Man Praying
Herman RodeSpring Pastures
Giovanni SegantiniThe Road to Calvary
Lambert SustrisThe Victory of the Carnutes over the Normans
Padovanino (Alessandro Varotari)Children Working in Alabaster
Adriano CecioniHuman Flood
Pellizza da Volpedo (Giuseppe Pellizza)Head of St. John the Baptist
Giovan Francesco MaineriPortrait of the Mother
Scipione (Gino Bonichi)Portrait of a Gentleman
Lorenzo LottoApollo’s Chariot
Andrea AppianiBaptism of Christ
Callisto PiazzaVirgin Enthroned with the Christ Child, St. Anne, St. Elisabeth, St. Augustine and the Blessed Pietro degli Onesti
Ercole de RobertiSanta Cristina
Ardengo SofficiAbraham Casting out Hagar and Ishmael
Guercino (Giovan Francesco Barbieri)Scenes from the Life of St. Columba
Giovanni BaronzioSan Francis of Assisi
Bernardino LaninoLe coup de foudre
Gino SeveriniPortrait of a sculptor
Daniele CrespiSt. Mark
Maestro GiorgioMarine Still Life with Feather
Filippo De Pisis (Filippo Tibertelli)Portrait of a Lady
Tanzio da Varallo (Antonio d’Enrico)Man with Halberd
Donato Bramante (Donato di Pascuccio)Expulsion of St. Joachim from the Temple
Bernardino LuiniMadonna col Bambino e san Giovannino
Cristoforo SavoliniConical Vessel with Lug Handles
Art of the Early Dynastic period in EgyptMadonna and Child with a Choir of Cherubim (Madonna of Cherubim)
Andrea MantegnaPortrait of Febo da Brescia
Lorenzo LottoNativity of Jesus with St. Elisabeth and the Young St. John the Baptist
Correggio (Antonio Allegri)Birth of the Virgin
Gaudenzio FerrariSaints Catherine of Alexandria and Sebastian
Giovanni Martino SpanzottiMadonna and Child with Angels, St. John the Baptist and St.James; Crucifixion; Evangelists
Pietro GuidoThe Odalisque
Francesco HayezLandscape
Giorgio MorandiMother Mourning the Death of her Child
Giuseppe MolteniMoti del 1898 a Milano. Piazza del Duomo alla partenza dei soldati
G.B. Ganzini
The Collection Online/ 670 records
Female Figure
Alberto GiacomettiMadonna and Child
Paolo di Giovanni FeiVertumnus and Pomona in a Garland of Flowers
Jan Philips van ThielenParis with a Factory
Filippo De Pisis (Filippo Tibertelli)Cristopher Columbus Prepares To Set Sail for the Americas
Pelagio PalagiRitratto di giovane donna
Simon VouetMadonna Enthroned with the Christ Child, Angels and Saints (Cagli Polyptych)
Alunno (Niccolò di Liberatore)Dame à la voilette
Medardo RossoRebecca and Eleazar at the Well
Giovanni Battista PiazzettaVase of Flowers on the Window of a Harem
Francesco HayezMarine Still Life with Scampi
Filippo De Pisis (Filippo Tibertelli)St. John the Baptist
Donato de BardiVessel with Everted Rim and Lug Handles
Art of the Early Dynastic period in EgyptMadonna and Child and Annunciation
Maestro del Crocifisso di PesaroPortrait of a Woman
Filippo De Pisis (Filippo Tibertelli)Errand Boy Seated with a Basket on His Back, Eggs and Poultry
Giacomo Ceruti (Pitocchetto)Le printemps de l’ingénieur
Giorgio De Chirico“Cangrande” Wall
Pietro ConsagraFemale Head with Veil and Crown
Bottega di Nicola o Giovanni PisanoSelf-Portrait as Abbot of the Accademia della Val di Blenio
Giovan Paolo LomazzoAdoration of the Magi
Correggio (Antonio Allegri)Poet Laureate with Red Hat
Donato Bramante (Donato di Pascuccio)The Presentation in the Temple
Gioacchino AsseretoSt. Roch Visits the Plague-Stricken
Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo Da Ponte)Man with a Two-Handed Sword
Donato Bramante (Donato di Pascuccio)The Kitchen
Vincenzo CampiPortrait of the Painter Moisè Kisling
Amedeo ModiglianiLast Supper
Veronese (Paolo Caliari)Lamentation over the Dead Christ
Andrea MantegnaCrucifixion with Saints Catherine, Francis, Bonaventure (?) and John (?)
Bernardino Giovanni Scotti e Giovan Stefano ScottiCrucifixion with the Virgin and St. John the Baptist, St. Mary Magdalen, St. John the Evangelist and St. Augustine
Ortolano (Giovanni Battista Benvenuti)Portrait of Lucio Foppa
Giovanni Ambrogio FiginoAbraham Casting out Hagar and Ishmael
Guercino (Giovan Francesco Barbieri)The City Rises
Umberto BoccioniSaint Mark Baptizing Anian
Giovanni MansuetiOld Beggar Woman with Guttersnipe
Gaspare TraversiCrucifixion
Giuseppe Maria CrespiMadonna col Bambino e san Giovannino
Cristoforo SavoliniSt. James the Greater
Bonifacio BemboSaint Peter paying the Tribute Money
Mattia PretiLamentation over the Dead Christ
Francesco Salviati (Francesco de' Rossi) - Giuseppe PortaThe Martyrs Cecilia, Valerian and Tiburtius
Orazio GentileschiChariot Race
Giorgio De ChiricoRebel Angel with White Moon
Osvaldo LiciniPortrait of Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg
Giovanni Battista LampiFlagellation
Mantuan PainterAdoration of the Magi
Gaetano PreviatiVenus and Cupid
Camillo BoccaccinoSaint John the Baptist with the Holy Lamb
Lorenzo Costa the ElderDavid with the Head of Goliath
Carlo Dolci