Pinacoteca Ambrosiana

The story

The gallery is part of the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, the library Borromeo established in 1607, and was meant to shape aesthetic taste. Its 24 rooms run over three floors. Rooms 1 to 7 gather the cardinal's Renaissance pieces: Botticelli's Madonna of the Pavilion, Titian's Adoration of the Magi, the small frog in Bramantino's Madonna Enthroned, and Jan Brueghel the Elder's minutely detailed flower vases. The second floor moves through Italian art up to the early 20th century, including Canova and Hayez. The marble-clad Galbiati Wing holds curiosities such as Napoleon's Waterloo gloves, a lock of Lucrezia Borgia's hair and armillary spheres from the Settala Collection. The route finishes on the ground floor in the Sala Federiciana, among library shelves and Leonardo's drawings. Beneath lies the Crypt of San Sepolcro, also run by the Ambrosiana.