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In Milan there is a district called Brera. The word "brera" comes from a Medieval Italian term for an expanse of land devoid of trees. This was once an accurate description of the area, as it was just outside the city wall and was deliberately kept treeless for military reasons. But now it's a densely-built district of the city which is home to the Palazzo Brera, a monumental palace which houses several cultural institutions, including the subject of this page, the Brera Gallery (or Pinacoteca di Brera).
Palazzo Courtyard
Palazzo Courtyard

The Brera Gallery is now the principal public gallery for paintings in Milan, but the palazzo started out as the main building of a Jesuit college in the 17th Century. In 1773, the Jesuit order was suppressed by Pope Clement XIV, and the palazzo passed to the Austrian Habsburg dynasty, which ruled northern Italy at the time. In 1776, Empress Maria Theresa directed that an academy of fine arts be founded at the site, and the Academy went into business the same year, with Giuseppe Parini as its first dean.
Empress Maria Theresa
Empress Maria Theresa
Giuseppe Parini
Giuseppe Parini

At first the academy didn't have much in the way of actual art to be studied, starting out with casts of some antiquities that had been provided. But Parini's successors began to acquire some actual works of art, a process that was greatly accelerated during Napoleon's occupation of Italy. As the French troops proceeded through the peninsula, they shut down many monasteries, convents and churches, and sent their works of art to Milan. Though later years brought the acquisition of other genres of art, the core of the gallery's collection remains religious in nature. In 1809 the gallery was formally split off from the academy as a separate institution, though they both remained in the palazzo.

On entering the gallery, we weren't really aware of its history, but nor were we particularly surprised at seeing a lot of religious art – pretty much all European art of a certain era was religious, with an emphasis on Christian themes. But in walking from room to room, we began to notice something of a lack of subject variety.

Paintings in Room XV
Paintings in Room XV

But even though the subjects were well-known and somewhat predictable, it was interesting to see the different ways in which they were treated by different artists. Here are some paintings that depict events related to the birth of Jesus and his early childhood:
The Marriage of the Virgin
The Marriage of the Virgin, Raphael (1504)
Adoration of the Magi
Adoration of the Magi, Jan de Beer (1515-20)

Adoration of the Magi
Adoration of the Magi, Jan van Dornicke (1520-30)
Adoration of the Magi
Adoration of the Magi, Lorenzo Costa il Vecchio (1499)

Madonna and Child
Madonna and Child, Giovanni Bellini (1510)
Madonna and Child
Madonna and Child, Andrea Mantegna (ca. 1485)

Virgin and Child with Saints (Camerino Triptych)
Virgin and Child with Saints (Camerino Triptych), Carlo Crivelli (1482)
The Virgin and Child with St. Anthony of Padua
The Virgin and Child with St. Anthony of Padua, Anthony van Dyck (1630-32)

And here are some events from the adulthood of Jesus, leading up to his crucifixion and beyond:
Supper at Emmaus
Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio (1605-06)

The Last Supper
The Last Supper, Veronese (after 1581)
The Last Supper
The Last Supper, Peter Paul Rubens (1631-32)

Christ at the Column
Christ at the Column, Donato Bramante (1490-99)
Crucifixion
Crucifixion, Giuseppe Maria Crespi (1729)

Pietà
Pietà, Giovanni Bellini (ca. 1460)
Assumption of the Virgin
Assumption of the Virgin, Carlo Francesco Nuvoloni

Dead Christ, Saints, Coronation of Virgin
Dead Christ, Saints, Coronation of Virgin, Carlo Crivelli (1493)
Coronation of the Virgin
Coronation of the Virgin, Bartolo and Andrea (ca. 1390 and ca. 1415)

Also commonly depicted in the paintings of the time were the experiences of the followers of Christ, especially those who later became saints (martyrdoms were especially popular):
The Martyrdom of St. Catherine
The Martyrdom of St. Catherine, Gaudenzio Ferrari (1540)
St. Francis Meditating on Death
St. Francis Meditating on Death, El Greco (1600-10)

St. Mark Preaching in Alexandria
St. Mark Preaching in Alexandria, Gentile Bellini and Giovanni Bellini (after 1507)
The Finding of the Body of St. Mark
The Finding of the Body of St. Mark, Tintoretto (1562-66)

A common practice of the time was for a wealthy donor to sponsor the creation of a painting, under the condition that he (and often his family members) would also be depicted in the painting, usually kneeling and praying. So often there are paintings with readily identifiable characters, along with some praying hangers-on whose identities remain a mystery to this day. In this particular painting, however, the donors were arguably the most well-known people in Milan at the time – the city's Duke, Ludovico Sforza (alias il Moro) and his wife, Beatrice d'Este, along with their children:
Virgin and Child with Doctors and Donors
Virgin and Child with Doctors and Donors, Maestro della Pala Sforzesca (1494-95)

There is also a certain amount of art preservation going on at the Brera Gallery. Here are some frescoes that were rescued from Milan's Santa Maria della Pace church:
Frescoes from Santa Maria della Pace
Frescoes from Santa Maria della Pace, Milan

While most of the religious art was from the New Testament and later, there were some paintings of events from the Old Testament. Here are a couple:
The Sacrifice of Isaac
The Sacrifice of Isaac, Jacob Jordaens (1625-26)
The Finding of Moses
The Finding of Moses, Bonifacio Veronese

Eventually, the subjects permitted in paintings were loosened up some, and artists started painting events from Greek and Roman mythology:
Nymph Pursued by Pan
Nymph Pursued by Pan, Peter Paul Rubens and Brueghel the Younger
Atalanta
Atalanta, Luigi Antonio Acquisti

This eventually opened things up for paintings of subjects that were entirely secular, either historical or contemporary (now, of course, all would be considered historical):
The Dying Cleopatra
The Dying Cleopatra, Guido Cagnacci (1660-62)
View of San Marco from the Punta della Dogana
View of San Marco from the Punta della Dogana, Canaletto (1740-45)

The Slave Merchant
The Slave Merchant, Vincenzo Vela
Portrait of a Young Woman
Portrait of a Young Woman, Rembrandt van Rijn (1632)

After the gallery was opened, acquisition of new paintings went on. Here are a couple from the 19th Century:
The Kiss
The Kiss, Francesco Hayez (1859)
Spring Pastures
Spring Pastures, Giovanni Segantini (1896)

Our visit to the Brera Gallery was the last major tourist attraction we visited in Milan. But throughout our stay in the city, we'd been visiting less prestigious points of interest. Continue on to the next page for a look at some of them.