If you’re looking for a unique picture gallery experience in  Milano, with a profusion of masterpieces and inspiring installations, then Pinacoteca di Brera is the place for you.

The wide rooms of Palazzo di Brera's first floor display masterpieces such as the Discovery of the body of Saint Mark by Tintoretto, the Marriage of the Virgin by Raphael, the Dead Christ by Mantegna, the Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio, the Pala Montefeltro (The Virgin with Child, Angels and Saints) by Piero della Francesca, Francesco Hayez's The Kiss and Umberto Boccioni's Riot in the Galleria and The City Rises. The collections include artworks ranging from the fourth millennium B.C. to the twentieth century, with an obvious focus on Italian painting.

Built by the great architect Giuseppe Piermarini, the Pinacoteca is housed within the walls of an ancient fourteenth-century convent that once belonged to the religious Order of the Humiliati and was commissioned by Maria Teresa, Empress of Austria.

The Museum provides benches in dedicated stations enabling visitors to stop, observe, sketch and fully enjoy the masterpieces. Some artworks are provided with close-by tactile samples, such as reproductions of the fabrics depicted in the paintings or fragrances related to the image, in order to enhance the hands-on experience and connection with the scenes.

Music lovers can explore the relationship between visual arts and music with the innovative Brera/Musica series: on dedicated days the museum hosts a repertory of international-level live performances. For food lovers, the charming Caffè Fernanda is an integral part of the museum and one of the five museum bars in our not-to-be-missed Milano itinerary.

In addition to the Pinacoteca, at the heart of one of Milano’s most famous districts, the Brera cultural complex comprises the Braidense National Library, the Astronomical Observatory, the Botanical Garden, the Lombard Institute of Sciences and Letters and the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts. The Pinacoteca was initially created to house a collection of paintings gathered after the dissolution of churches and monasteries in Napoleonic times, in order to inspire the academy’s students in their historical and artistic studies.

A Brera visit actually encompasses many themes: art, nature, astronomy and culture.