The Brera Palace |
It was a Jesuit college for two hundred years. It now houses several cultural institutions including its Art Academy, Art Gallery, Botanic Garden, the Astronomical Observatory and the important National Braidense Library.
The Brera Art Gallery |
One of the finest galleries for Mediaeval and Renaissance Italian art. Famous works include Raphael’s “Marriage of the Virgin”, Piero della Francesca’s altarpiece with the Duke of Urbino, and Mantegna’s Dead Christ in dramatic foreshortening. There is a Last Supper by Rubens, in which the eyes of Judas seem to follow your gaze as you move through the room. The ultra-romantic “Kiss” is by Francesco Hayez …
| The Botanic Garden |
Instituted two and a half centuries ago as desired by Maria Teresa of Austria, with the intention of having a dedicated space for gardening, horticulture, cultivation of medicinal plants, meditation and contemplation. You delve into a magic silence broken only by the songs of little birds and the drip-drop of water fountains.
| The Astronomical Observatory of Brera (OAB) |
The most ancient scientific institution in Milan, founded in 1764 by Luigi La Grange and Giuseppe Ruggiero Boscovich actually is a museum. A second site, located at Villa San Rocco in Merate, Brianza, became operational in 1923, and now is one of the top level research institutes in the world.
| The National Braidense Library |
In 1770, Count Carlo Pertusati, donated his library to the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. His mother the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, later governor of Lombardy, decided to assign the Pertusati library to the public use, and opened to the public in 1786.
