



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/ 680 records
Portrait of the Mother
Scipione (Gino Bonichi)Allegory of Fortune
Lorenzo LeombrunoKitchen Still Life
Evaristo BaschenisThe Lamp
Mario SironiPortrait of Giovanni Battista Sommariva
Pierre-Paul Prud'honView of the Grand Canal with the Fabbriche Nuove di Rialto
Francesco GuardiCrucifixion
Gentile da Fabriano (Gentile di Niccolò di Giovanni di Massio)Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints John the Baptist and Florian
Francesco Zaganelli - Bernardino ZaganelliMadonna and Child with a Bird
Boccaccio BoccaccinoSaint Peter paying the Tribute Money
Mattia PretiSt. Helen and St. Constantine
Palma il Vecchio (Jacopo Negretti)Christ Mocked and Crowned with Thorns
Spagnoletto (Jusepe de Ribera)Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
Francesco CairoMadonna and Child with St. James of Galicia and St. Helena
Niccolò Pisano (Niccolò di Bartolomeo dell'Abrugia)The Wrath of Mars Checked by Venus
Andrea AppianiDoge Francesco Foscari’s Removal (The Two Foscari)
Francesco HayezMadonna and Child (Madonna of the Rose-bush)
Bernardino LuiniMarine Still Life with Feather
Filippo De Pisis (Filippo Tibertelli)The Tryptich of the Adoration of the Magi
Jan de BeerThe Assumption of the Virgin with St.Mark and St. Jerome, St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Clare; St. Francis
Moretto (Alessandro Bonvicino)The Good Samaritan
Joachim von SandrartSt. Jerome in the Desert
Cima da Conegliano (Giovanni Battista Cima)Egyptian Gifts to the Israelites
Bernardino LuiniMadonna and Child with St. Martha, St. James, St. Joseph and a donor
Girolamo GiovenonePortrait of a Painter
Fra' Galgario (Vittore Ghislandi)Landscape
Giorgio MorandiIntérieur à la baie
Maurice EstèveDead Game (with Crossbow)
Johannes FytNursing Madonna
Luca SignorelliMadonna and Child
Maestro di PratovecchioDispute of St. Catherine (?)
Antiveduto GramaticaGiardini d’estate a San Pietroburgo
Karl Karlovic BullaSt Bernardino of Siena with Angels
Andrea MantegnaMadonna and Child, St. James, St. Philip and the Family of Antonio Busti
Bernardo ZenalePortrait of a Young Man
Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)Pietro Rossi
Francesco HayezCamerino Triptych (Triptych of Saint Domenico)
Carlo CrivelliStill Life
Giorgio MorandiStill Life with Flowers and Bottle
Filippo De Pisis (Filippo Tibertelli)Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist
Vincenzo FoppaAdoration of the Magi
Ludovico CarracciOld Beggar Woman with Guttersnipe
Gaspare TraversiThe Curl (La Toilette)
Federico ZandomeneghiMadonna and Child
Bernardino ButinoneConcertino
Ottone RosaiPietà
Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)Self-Portrait as Abbot of the Accademia della Val di Blenio
Giovan Paolo LomazzoVirgin Enthroned with the Christ Child, St. Anne, St. Elisabeth, St. Augustine and the Blessed Pietro degli Onesti
Ercole de RobertiSt. Charles in Glory
Giulio Cesare Procaccini
The Collection Online/ 680 records
Madonna and Child with Saints, Angels and Federico da Montefeltro (San Bernardino Altarpiece)
Piero della FrancescaThe Grazie Polyptych
Vincenzo FoppaGli Ambasciatori ritornano in Inghilterra, portando il messaggio con le condizioni dettate da Orsola
Ditta AndersonVenus and Cupid
Camillo BoccaccinoThe Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels
Girolamo da Treviso (Girolamo Pennacchi)Landscape (The wood)
Giorgio MorandiSt. Paul
Geminiano BenzoniPortrait of Lord Donounghmore
Sir Joshua ReynoldsSaint Peter Martyr with Saints Nicholas and Benedict
Cima da Conegliano (Giovanni Battista Cima)Self-Portrait (back)
Umberto BoccioniThe Sacrifice of Isaac
Jacob JordaensLast Supper
Pieter Paul RubensPortrait of a Young Man
Dirck Dircksz SantvoortDual Portrait
Giovanni Agostino da LodiBathsheba at her bath
Francesco HayezSt. Peter Enthroned with St. John the Baptist and St. Paul
Cima da Conegliano (Giovanni Battista Cima)Tuscan House
Ottone RosaiMadonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist
Vincenzo FoppaChrist and the Canaanite Woman
Ludovico CarracciStill Life
Giorgio MorandiStill Life with Pumpkin, Pears and Walnuts
Pitocchetto (Giacomo Ceruti)Lying Pomona
Marino MariniThe Enchanted Chamber
Carlo CarràIdol, Troy I Form
Cycladic ArtLandscape
Giorgio MorandiSt. Sebastian
Palma il Vecchio (Jacopo Negretti)St. Helen and St. Constantine
Palma il Vecchio (Jacopo Negretti)Dame à la voilette
Medardo RossoPortrait of Count Antonio Porcia and Brugnera
Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)Mother and Son
Carlo CarràEnfant gras
Amedeo ModiglianiSelf-Portrait
Giorgio MorandiFemale Idol, Folded-Arms Form
Cycladic ArtBaptism of Christ
Marco d'Oggiono e Giovanni Agostino da LodiMarine Still Life with a Lapwing
Filippo De Pisis (Filippo Tibertelli)Snow in High Mountains
Emilio LongoniMosaic With Two Heads and a Building in the Background
Northern Italy mosaicist (attribuited to)Still Life
Giorgio MorandiA Teacher on His Chair with His Pupils
Master of ViolantriaAdoration of the Magi in the Presence of Saint Helen
Palma il Vecchio (Jacopo Negretti)Adoration of the Magi
Marco d'Oggiono e Giovanni Agostino da LodiFlagellation (verso)
Master of the Poldi Pezzoli Diptych (or of the Cini Diptych)Nymphs Bathing
Bernardino LuiniThe Scorn of Cam
Bernardino LuiniMadonna Enthroned with Angels, St. Apollonia, St. Augustine, St. Catherine, St. Joseph, St. Grata, St. Philip Benizzi and St. Barbara (St. Gotthard Altarpiece)
Cariani (Giovanni Busi)Le guéridon vert devant la fenêtre
Georges BraqueSt. Helen, St. Barbara, St. Andrew, St. Macarius, another Saint and a Worshipper Adore the Cross
Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)Reliquary-Triptych with Crucifixion, Annunciation and Thirty Figures of Saints
Bartolomeo da Reggio e Jacopino da ReggioThe Assumption of the Virgin with St.Mark and St. Jerome, St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Clare; St. Francis
Moretto (Alessandro Bonvicino)Self-Portrait
Giuseppe Bossi