BRERA ACADEMY

Description

Essentials about Brera Academy in brief

As one of the most famous art academies in the world, the Milan Academy of Fine Arts (Brera Academy) is worth a visit not only for art students, but also for art lovers in general. Housed in the beautiful Palazzo di Brera in the Brera district of the same name, the Academy is home to the Pinacoteca di Brera, one of the most important painting galleries in Italy, with many masterpieces from various artistic periods.

The history of Brera Academy

The Palazzo di Brera, built at the end of the 17th century, was once the seat of the Jesuit Order in Milan. After the prohibition of the order in 1773, three years later, at the behest of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, Brera Academy was founded in the palace’s premises. Since 1806 the Pinacoteca di Brera has also been housed in the palace.

The Pinacotheca of Brera Academy

In the almost 40 halls of the Pinacoteca, there are usually around 500 paintings from the collection of Brera Academy, which comprises over 1,300 works. Almost all the important Italian masters of various art periods are represented in the Pinacoteca, such as di Bartolo, Bellini, Boccioni, Caravaggio, Mantegna, Raphael and Titian.

The exhibition also includes valuable works of Flemish and Dutch painting from the Baroque, Renaissance and Mannerist periods, including works by de Beer, Bruegel the Elder, Rembrandt and Rubens. The bronze statue by Antonio Canovia in the courtyard of Palazzo di Brera also deserves a look. It depicts Napoleon Bonaparte as a victorious Apollo – naked, as Zeus created him.