Pinacoteca viaggiante
From May 16, 2025, to May 17, 2026 Pinacoteca di Brera | Included in the admission fee
The exhibition presents the extraordinary collection of 99 miniatures on enamel commissioned by Count Giovanni Battista Sommariva, a patron and neoclassical collector. Created between 1810 and 1825, the “traveling Pinacoteca” reproduces the masterpieces of his collection, transforming art into an elegant tool for personal representation.
The wealthy Count Giovanni Battista Sommariva (1757-1826), a fervent supporter of Napoleon, was the greatest collector of the Neoclassical era, as well as a great patron, commissioner, and protector of artists, especially French ones.
Between 1810 and 1825, the count commissioned five highly skilled miniaturists of the time (Adèle Chavassieu d’Haudebert, Henri L’Evêque, Pierre Édouard Gautier Dagoty, Giambattista Gigola, and Abraham Constantin) to reproduce many of the paintings in his collection on enamel.
He thus created a “portable pinacoteca” that accompanied him on his numerous trips around Europe, proudly displaying it as his personal calling card. Nobles, princes, diplomats, ambassadors, intellectuals, and ladies who frequented the salons of the European nobility of his time observed the small paintings with wonder and amazement: a veritable “traveling pinacoteca.”
Consisting of 99 beautiful miniatures in enamel on copper framed by fine gilded bronze frames, the “catalog” made great art prêt-à-porter.
Info
When
From May 16, 2025, to May 17, 2026
Where
Room 1
Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday: 8:30 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. (last admission at 6:00 p.m.)
Exhibitions and Events Department
tel. 02 72263.259 – 266
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Communications Department
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comunicazione.brera@ cultura.gov.it
Educational activities
Servizi educativi della Pinacoteca di Brera Segreteria ufficio
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Press office
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