Description
The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana is the art museum of the Palazzo dell'Ambrosiana, in the center of Milan, a stone's throw from Piazza del Duomo. Born in the 17th century next to a famous library, it holds paintings by Leonardo, Botticelli, Raphael and Caravaggio in an intimate route, best taken slowly.
The heart is the collection of Cardinal Federico Borromeo, in the rooms around the reading room, arranged as he himself described them in 1625. Here you will find Caravaggio's Basket of Fruit and Raphael's cartoon for the School of Athens, the preparatory drawing for the Vatican fresco.
The Sala Leonardi brings together the Portrait of a Musician, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, and the works of his pupils, from Salaì to Boltraffio. Among the 15th-century paintings, Botticelli's Madonna of the Pavilion stands out, in a room that also holds Bergognone and Zenale.
Further on, the route widens to the masters of the following centuries: Titian, Moretto da Brescia, Luini, Bramantino, Guido Reni's Penitent Magdalene, the winter landscapes of the Flemish painter Avercamp, Baschenis's still life with musical instruments.
The Sala della Medusa takes its name from the bronze fountain of the weeping Medusa. From here you enter the rooms added in 1928, with Giottino's Pietà, display cases of rare objects and a large Dante-themed stained-glass window by Giuseppe Bertini.
The top floors reach the 19th century: Andrea Appiani's Portrait of Napoleon and the paintings of Hayez, including The Kiss. In the corridor you can see reliefs by Bambaia and frescoes from a church demolished in 1831.
The gallery cannot be separated from the library. Here is kept Leonardo's Codex Atlanticus, one of the manuscripts donated in 1637: after Napoleon's plunder, it is the only one left in place. It keeps company with the Virgil that belonged to Petrarch, with a miniature by Simone Martini.
Federico Borromeo had a revolutionary idea for the 17th century: art and knowledge should belong to everyone, free of charge. In 1609 he opened the library, in 1618 he added his collection of paintings, and soon afterward a school for young painters and sculptors.
For his students he had the most famous masterpieces copied. Among them Leonardo's Last Supper, which even then was deteriorating. The copy, by Andrea Bianchi, was made so that the masterpiece would not be lost forever.
The academy of painting and sculpture was founded in 1621. The first to teach painting there was Cerano, but the only notable student was Daniele Crespi. The Brera Academy, founded in 1776 by Maria Theresa of Austria, had far more resources and chairs.
Don't miss
• Caravaggio's Basket of Fruit.
• Raphael's cartoon for the School of Athens.
• Leonardo's Portrait of a Musician.
• Botticelli's Madonna of the Pavilion.
• The Codex Atlanticus.
Did you know?
• The Ambrosiana keeps a lock of Lucrezia Borgia's hair, which drew writers and poets in the 19th century. Legend has it that on the night of the dead her ghost returns to comb it.
• The Codex Atlanticus is displayed on rotation, in themed exhibitions.
The heart is the collection of Cardinal Federico Borromeo, in the rooms around the reading room, arranged as he himself described them in 1625. Here you will find Caravaggio's Basket of Fruit and Raphael's cartoon for the School of Athens, the preparatory drawing for the Vatican fresco.
The Sala Leonardi brings together the Portrait of a Musician, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, and the works of his pupils, from Salaì to Boltraffio. Among the 15th-century paintings, Botticelli's Madonna of the Pavilion stands out, in a room that also holds Bergognone and Zenale.
Further on, the route widens to the masters of the following centuries: Titian, Moretto da Brescia, Luini, Bramantino, Guido Reni's Penitent Magdalene, the winter landscapes of the Flemish painter Avercamp, Baschenis's still life with musical instruments.
The Sala della Medusa takes its name from the bronze fountain of the weeping Medusa. From here you enter the rooms added in 1928, with Giottino's Pietà, display cases of rare objects and a large Dante-themed stained-glass window by Giuseppe Bertini.
The top floors reach the 19th century: Andrea Appiani's Portrait of Napoleon and the paintings of Hayez, including The Kiss. In the corridor you can see reliefs by Bambaia and frescoes from a church demolished in 1831.
The gallery cannot be separated from the library. Here is kept Leonardo's Codex Atlanticus, one of the manuscripts donated in 1637: after Napoleon's plunder, it is the only one left in place. It keeps company with the Virgil that belonged to Petrarch, with a miniature by Simone Martini.
Federico Borromeo had a revolutionary idea for the 17th century: art and knowledge should belong to everyone, free of charge. In 1609 he opened the library, in 1618 he added his collection of paintings, and soon afterward a school for young painters and sculptors.
For his students he had the most famous masterpieces copied. Among them Leonardo's Last Supper, which even then was deteriorating. The copy, by Andrea Bianchi, was made so that the masterpiece would not be lost forever.
The academy of painting and sculpture was founded in 1621. The first to teach painting there was Cerano, but the only notable student was Daniele Crespi. The Brera Academy, founded in 1776 by Maria Theresa of Austria, had far more resources and chairs.
Don't miss
• Caravaggio's Basket of Fruit.
• Raphael's cartoon for the School of Athens.
• Leonardo's Portrait of a Musician.
• Botticelli's Madonna of the Pavilion.
• The Codex Atlanticus.
Did you know?
• The Ambrosiana keeps a lock of Lucrezia Borgia's hair, which drew writers and poets in the 19th century. Legend has it that on the night of the dead her ghost returns to comb it.
• The Codex Atlanticus is displayed on rotation, in themed exhibitions.