Brera National Gallery.

Discovery of Palazzo Brera

Palazzo Brera was built on the remains of a 14th century monastery of the Humiliati 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 austere building we see today.

Since the XVIII century, the building houses several of the city’s leading cultural institutes:    Book now

• the Astronomical Observatory and its Museum (1762)
• the National Library, Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense (1770-86)
• the Fine Arts Academy, which is a state-run university (1776)
• the Botanical Garden, a silent oasis of green in a secluded spot (1774)
• the Istituto Accademia di Scienze e Lettere, modelled on the Istitut de France for the purpose of collecting and cataloguing discoveries and of perfecting the arts and sciences (1797).

A further building transformation was executed by Giuseppe Piermarini, one of Italy’s leading Neoclassical architects. He was responsible for renovating the Library (one room of which can be seen at the entrance of the Pinacoteca), for building the solemn entrance on via Brera and for completing the courtyard.

A monumental staircase leads up to the Pinacoteca, or Picture Gallery, which was founded by Napoleon I and opened on August 15^th 1809, the very day of his birthday. Large rooms were created sacrificing the thirteenth-century church Santa Maria in Brera, whose nave was cut like a sandwich to have two floors, the upper one is occupied by the so-called Napoleonic rooms of the Gallery, while the ground floor by the Fine Arts Academy.

The large Palazzo Brera also hosts other important institutes:    Book your private guided tour now

• Drawing Cabinet (1825 ca.)
• Photographic Library (1899)
• Photo radiographic Laboratory.

The Pinacoteca di Brera’s collection of works of art includes several of the greatest masterpieces in the history of art anywhere in the world.

During the private guided tour, we will discover together which ones they are.

Duration: 3,5/4 hours.

Each tour is completely customized and may cover the time or the theme that interests you most.

Every day except on Mondays.