Travel Tips - Art in Milan, Italy

Possibly Milan’s best known art museum, Brera’s collection is focused on classical works of art by master painters such as Raphael, Bellini, Rembrandt, Goya, Caravaggio, Van Dyck and El Greco. One of the museum’s centerpieces is Andrea Mantegna’s masterpiece The Dead Christ, a beautiful and evocative painting of Christ removed from the cross.

The museum, which opened at the beginning of the 19th century, is made up of 38 rooms. Although that may sound quite large, the museum is actually a very manageable size and can easily be seen in its entirety in a couple of hours.

The Pinacoteca di Brera is open Tuesday to Sunday from 8:30AM to 7:15PM. Entrance costs 10 Euros. Audio tours are available for an additional 3.50 Euros.

Milan’s Palazzo Reale, or royal palace, may not be much to look at, but it’s a site tourists should not miss. Located on the southern side of the duomo, this former seat of Milan’s Town Hall and home to the Torriani, Visconti and Sforza families, survived WWII bombing and currently houses the Duomo Museum, where most of the Duomo’s treasures are exhibited, and Contemporary Art Museum. Although the palace is subjected to what seems to be a never-ending renovation, it is open to the public. The Palazzo Reale Contemporary Art Museum does not have a permanent collection but hosts important international, temporary exhibits. This is a mandatory stop for art lovers, although art is not particularly hard to find anywhere in Milan.