



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/ 679 records
Cartone preparatorio per la Fortezza e la Temperanza
Ludovico CarracciRitratto di donna velata
AnonimoBust of Vincenzo Monti
Abbondio SangiorgioStill Life with Eggs
Filippo De Pisis (Filippo Tibertelli)Self-Portrait
Andrea AppianiPortrait of Lucio Foppa
Giovanni Ambrogio FiginoSt. Jerome in the Desert
Lazzaro BastianiThe Virgin Immaculate
Bernardo CavallinoThe Temptations of St. Anthony the Abbot
Giovanni Battista TiepoloAssumption of the Virgin
Gregorio ZavattariWomen with Guitar
Massimo Campigli (Max Ihlenfeldt)Polyptych of the Coronation of the Virgin The Redeemer Blessing
Andrea di Bartolo e Giorgio di AndreaA Teacher on His Chair with His Pupils
Master of ViolantriaPortrait of Benedetta Carminati Chisoli
Piccio (Giovanni Carnovali)Crucifixion
Giuseppe Maria CrespiThe Kitchen
Vincenzo CampiStill Life
Giorgio MorandiLandscape
Giorgio MorandiSelf-Portrait
Umberto BoccioniMadonna with Child and an Angel
Moretto (Alessandro Bonvicino)Hannibal Swearing Eternal Enmity of the Romans
Giovan Battista PittoniRaising of Lazarus
Ludovico MazzolinoMassacre of the Innocents
Bernardo CavallinoMadonna and Child with St. Joseph and St. Simeon
Andrea SolarioDead Christ (pieta)
Antonio VivariniEgyptian Gifts to the Israelites
Bernardino LuiniGame with a Live Pigeon
Candido VitaliSaints Catherine of Alexandria and Sebastian
Giovanni Martino SpanzottiSt. Catherine of Siena
Francesco CairoStill Life with Pumpkin, Pears and Walnuts
Pitocchetto (Giacomo Ceruti)The Redeemer Giving His Blessing
Andrea di BartoloPortrait of Febo da Brescia
Lorenzo LottoSaint Sebastian
Dosso Dossi (Giovanni di Nicolò Luteri)St. Roch
Palma il Vecchio (Jacopo Negretti)Lute Player
Bartolomeo VenetoSaint Louis of Toulouse with Two Angels and a Donor
Master of San Martino alla PalmaPomona (Nude)
Marino MariniGiardini d’estate a San Pietroburgo
Karl Karlovic BullaBauci
Giacomo ManzùSt. Peter Enthroned with St. John the Baptist and St. Paul
Cima da Conegliano (Giovanni Battista Cima)The Ailing Saint Jerome Sees Himself Scourged before God
Master of GesuatiMan with a Mace
Donato Bramante (Donato di Pascuccio)Annunciation to St. Anne; St. Joachim and the Angel in the Background
Bernardino LuiniPietà
Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)Christ Blessing
Alvise VivariniSt. Peter
Francesco del CossaDual Portrait
Giovanni Agostino da LodiMadonna col Bambino e san Giovannino
Cristoforo SavoliniMadonna and Child
Maestro di Pratovecchio
The Collection Online/ 679 records
Marine Still Life with Scampi
Filippo De Pisis (Filippo Tibertelli)Self-Portrait
Palma il Giovane (Jacopo Negretti)Madonna and Child with St. Anthony the Abbot, St. John the Baptist, St. Andrew, St. Victor, St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Nicholas, St. Mark and St. Lucy
Lorenzo VenezianoAdoration of the Magi
Gaspare SacchiStill Life
Giorgio MorandiSelf-Portrait
Giuliano TraballesiMadonna and Child
Bernardino ButinoneMadonna and Child with St. Job and St. Gothard
Marcello FogolinoThe Wrath of Mars Checked by Venus
Andrea AppianiSt. Sebastian
Liberale da VeronaThe Lovers
Paris BordonAngels
Bernardino LuiniPortrait of Count Flaminio Tassi (?)
Fra' Galgario (Vittore Ghislandi)Le demon du jeu
Gino SeveriniArchaeologic Walk
Antonietta Raphael de Simon MafaiHead of St. John the Baptist
Giovan Francesco MaineriWooded Landscape with Abraham and Isaac
Abraham GovaertsSt. James the Greater
Bonifacio BemboPortrait of a Young Man
Dirck Dircksz SantvoortAdoration of the Shepherds
Ambrogio da Fossano detto BergognonePortrait of Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg
Giovanni Battista LampiSt. Jerome in the Desert
Montagna (Bartolomeo Cincani)Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Nicholas, Peter, Bartholomew and Augustine
Nicolò RondinelliSelf-Portrait
Martin KnollerSnow in High Mountains
Emilio LongoniCapriccio with the Ponte Rotto
Luca CarlevarijsRebel Angel with White Moon
Osvaldo LiciniThe Holy Family. The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Simone Cantarini (called Il Pesarese)St. Joseph’s Dream
Bernardino LuiniPortrait of Andrea Doria as Neptune
Bronzino (Agnolo di Cosimo)The Metaphysical Muse
Carlo CarràSaint Luke Polyptych
Andrea MantegnaThe God Father with Angels
Bernardino LuiniPortrait of Antonio Navagero
Giovan Battista MoroniMadonna and Child with Saints Lawrence, Nicholas and Francis of Rome
Francesco GessiPortrait of Bartolomeo Arese
Antonio CampiMadonna and Child Enthroned with Saints John the Baptist and Florian
Francesco Zaganelli - Bernardino ZaganelliAssumption of the Virgin
Lorenzo LottoStudio per Cristo e la samaritana
Simone CantariniNapoleon as Mars the Peacemaker
Antonio CanovaSan Pietro che risana lo storpio
Simone CantariniVision of St. Jerome
Pierre SubleyrasPortrait of a Man
Francesco Torbido named MoroStill Life
Giorgio MorandiStudio di testa maschile di tre-quarti volta a destra (Cristo)
Federico Barocci (Federico Fiori)San Domenico revives Napoleone Orsini
Benozzo GozzoliPortrait of Massimo d’Azeglio
Francesco HayezMadonna and Child with a Choir of Cherubs
Ambito di PeruginoPoet Laureate with Red Hat
Donato Bramante (Donato di Pascuccio)Franz Listz in abito talare
Ernst Hanfstaengl