Pinacoteca Brera in Milan: description, collection of paintings

Art museums in Italy are striking in their diversity and magnificence. Before every tourist in any city of the country will appear a collection of art treasures that any other country can envy: Florence - magnificent palaces, Rome - religious artifacts, Milan - scientific delights, and every museum or gallery is worth a visit.

Beautiful Quarter of Milan

One of the famous museums in Italy, and in Milan in particular, is considered the Pinecone of Brera, which is located in the same quarter. The name comes from the Italian word "braida" or "brera", which means "land cleared of trees". Once this area was not a part of the city, but was on the border with it, but now this quarter is called "Milan Montmartre" because of its peculiar bohemian atmosphere, because besides the Pinakotheque, the Academy of Fine Arts is also located here. In this area you can see an astronomical observatory, a botanical garden, and in the evening and at night young people gather, as Brera is a popular area of Milan's nightlife.

Brera Art Gallery

The ancient Greeks had rooms where they kept works of art, including various clay tables, paintings written on planks, and other works with paintings. Such repositories were called the Pinakotheks, which later became used by the Romans. Today, picture galleries (art galleries) are called pinakotheks, of which there are only seven at the present time, and one of them is the Brera Pinakothek.

Located in the palace, and at the entrance of each tourist meets the sculpture of Napoleon, and along the entire perimeter the courtyard is decorated with arched passages. The gallery is considered one of the most visited museums in Italy, and is on the 20th place in popularity.

In the Pinakothek there are 38 rooms with paintings, which for the convenience of visitors are arranged in chronological order and divided into schools of painting. One of the halls is dedicated to the art of the XX century.

Originally there was a base for students, and only in 1882 there was an art gallery, very popular among students of the Academy of Fine Arts.

Pinacoteca of Brera: paintings

More than 30 rooms store the works of famous Italian artists from different eras. In the halls you can find the works of Caravaggio, Goya, Tintoretto, Rembrandt. The paintings are distributed throughout the gallery and divided into periods, but there are some halls that are dedicated only to one artist who brought fame to Italy.

A special feature of the gallery is that it contains not only paintings, but also frescoes belonging to the 14-16th centuries. They are exhibited in special halls, where they tried to recreate the layout of the destroyed buildings in which the frescoes were located.

The most famous and the most important works are those, such as "The Dead Christ" (Mantegna), created in the beginning of the 16th century, "The Miracle of St. Mark" (Tintoretto), "Portrait of Mois Kisling" (Modigliani), "The Betrothal of the Virgin Mary" (Raphael) . The paintings relating to the collection of the gallery are the most significant among the collections of Italian painting. The collection was collected for many years, and it arose not because of aristocrats' donations, but because of the progressive cultural policy, where the works were purchased specially to improve the quality of instruction.

Collection of galleries

Pinacoteca Brera in Milan stores the most valuable paintings of Italian masters, and already in the first room there are images of Jesus Christ created by different artists at different times: Rosso, Marino, Modigliani and other authors.

Further in the following halls is represented the Italian painting of 13-16 centuries, and the works of such masters as Giovanni de Milano. Venetian painting of the 15-16th centuries is in the 5th and 6th hall, and the most famous work is "Lamentation of Christ with Mary and John", written by Giovanni Bellini.

Works of the Venetian period can be seen in the 7th, 8th, 9th and 14th halls, where paintings by Lotto, Tintoretto, Basanno and others are presented.

Works of the Lombardy period are in the 15th and 19th halls, where portraits, landscapes and frescos are presented, which were collected in various monasteries.

Separately, the work of the province of Emilia, whose center is Bologna, is devoted. These works can be found in 20, 22 and 23 rooms. 21 hall - this is the work of the 15th century, and in the 24th hall - Piero della Francesca and Rafael. The paintings exhibited here relate to the Renaissance (15-16 centuries).

27 and 28 halls - painting of central Italy, 30th hall - Lombard painting of the 17th century, 31, 32 and 33 halls - works by masters from the Netherlands, 34 halls - icons of the 18th century, 35 and 36 - Venetian painting of the 18th century, 37 and 38 halls - painting of the 19th century.

Caravaggio Hall

Hall number 29 is completely devoted to the works of the great Italian master - Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merizi), who was the founder of realism and the greatest master of baroque in the 17th century. He was an outstanding artist, who transferred all his works to the canvas immediately, and no drawings or sketches were found.

Pinacoteca Brera represents the work of the master and his students, and the most famous painting in the gallery is "Dinner at Emmaus" 1605 - 1606 year of creation. It depicts the climax, when Christ appeared before the two disciples, on the third day after the crucifixion.

Caravaggio painted two paintings of the same name, but the first was written in 1602, and is now kept in the National London Gallery. The picture presented in Milan has a simpler composition, it does not use bright colors, people's gestures are restrained, and the style of the artist is more gloomy in comparison with previous works.

Pinakothek of the 21st century

One of the most popular museums every day opens doors for visitors so that they can get acquainted with the art of different eras of Italian masters. Here students constantly come to view the paintings, to study the era and the technique of artists.

In addition to the gallery there is a library of modern art, where more than 25 thousand volumes are collected. The library is visited by students, teachers, and also conducts extra-curricular courses that are open to everyone, various competitions, events and projects, information about which can be obtained on the museum's website.

Pinacoteca Brera: address and cost

In the urban area 1, in the eponymous quarter is the Pinakothek at via Brera 28. To get to the gallery, you need to buy a ticket, the cost of which is 10 euros, and for the privileged category of citizens - 7 euros. Everyone who wishes can get an audio guide for a fee of 5 euros, which will help to conduct an excursion. For more information, visit the Pinakothek's website.

Reviews about Pinakothek

Everyone who has ever visited the famous gallery in Milan, remained in admiration of what he saw. This museum is included in all the guidebooks and is recommended for viewing by those who love painting, and in particular Italian masters, which are popular to this day. A few spent hours in the Pinakothek fly by unnoticed, as the pictures leave a strong impression, because this is the real art. Pinakothek is not the most popular place among tourists, because many people come to Milan for shopping, and most people go to the museum who study art and know what can be seen here. Those who have come to the gallery accidentally or like to visit such cultural places are advised to take an audio guide or simply a guide who will tell a lot of interesting things about the history of paintings and about the artists who created works of art.