Milan, Bagatti Valsecchi Museum celebrates?its 30th anniversary

The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum in Milan celebrates this year the 30th anniversary of its opening to the public in 1994. To honor this milestone, the museum is offering from Nov. 20-24, 2024, a series of events designed to involve not only regular visitors but also a new and wider audience, offering them the opportunity to discover the history and cultural heritage housed within the walls of the historic mansion. The celebration project, titled “Museum Beyond Borders,” is aimed at strengthening ties with the local area and proposing innovative forms of cultural enjoyment.

“It has been almost fifty years since we left the house where I was born and thirty since the Museum was born,” says Camilla Bagatti Valsecchi, president of the Bagatti Valsecchi Foundation. “The journey has been extraordinary, of continuous growth, and I am grateful to have lived through all these phases. I find myself at the presidency of a museum that reflects my idea, which has always been to continue the path traced by the brothers Fausto and Giuseppe, that is, of a house that was open to artists and friends. Now the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum is a living place, with a constant growth of visitors and people who become attached and come back to visit us, because our proposal is always varied and intriguing.”

Thus instead the director of the Museum, Antonio D’Amico: “Celebrating as Director the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum is a great joy for me, because it is a moment of celebration for the Museum that rediscovers with ever greater strength its identity as a house open to friends and ready to welcome all those who want to come and have an encounter with beauty, art, music and culture. The brothers founded this place in the mid-nineteenth century with this spirit of harmony between the arts that was in the DNA of the Renaissance, and it is now up to us to keep this industriousness and rich dialogue between the arts alive.”

The origins of Casa Bagatti Valsecchi and the birth of the museum

The history of this fascinating home has distant roots: it was the late 19th century when brothers Fausto and Giuseppe Bagatti Valsecchi, heirs of a noble Milanese family, decided to renovate the old family home located in the center of Milan, between Via Gesù and Via Santo Spirito. Inspired by the Lombard Renaissance style, they began collecting paintings, furnishings and objects of applied art from the 15th and 16th centuries, building a unique place that was state-of-the-art for the time and even had electricity and running water. At the entrance to the house they placed a Latin motto, “Amicis pateo aeternumque patebo” - “I am open to friends and always will be” - which still greets visitors today.

This tradition of hospitality has been perpetuated through the generations, as evidenced by the Guest Book, which collects the signatures of more than 10,000 people who visited the house from 1886 to 1975. Intellectuals, Italian and foreign aristocrats, members of the jet set and art enthusiasts were welcomed into a home that represented a center of cultural exchange, art and knowledge.

After the death of the brothers, the house remained in the family’s ownership until 1974. It was Pasino, Giuseppe’s son, who made a crucial decision: to donate the Renaissance art collections collected by his father and uncle to a foundation, thus ensuring that the cultural legacy of Casa Bagatti Valsecchi could be preserved and admired by a wider public. The palace was given to the Region of Lombardy, with the agreement that it would house the art collections in the historic apartments on the piano nobile on perpetual loan. Thanks to this commitment, the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum opened its doors to the public for the first time on November 22, 1994, marking the beginning of a new phase in the history of the mansion.

Thirty years of opening: a museum “beyond borders”

Thirty years later, the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum has kept alive the desire for welcome expressed by the motto of its founders. The “Museum Beyond Borders” project , created on the occasion of the anniversary, aims to consolidate the bond between the museum and its loyal public, but also to expand its reach to new visitors, involving in particular the communities of the Milanese territory. The goal is to transform the museum into a place of “meaningful” learning, capable of meeting the real interests and experiences of its visitors, of all ages.

Among the planned initiatives, starting in November, are educational activities in schools and neighborhood libraries. Museum operators will bring creative workshops directly into classrooms, inviting children and young people to design a “house museum” and involving them in the discovery of historical and artistic heritage. Instead, libraries will host lectures for the public, such as those planned at the Baggio Library on Nov. 19, the Affori Library on Nov. 20 and the Calvairate Library on Nov. 22, in a series of meetings that will bring citizens closer to the history of the Bagatti Valsecchi family and the museum.

The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum today stands out for the variety of activities designed to attract the public throughout the year, from young people to art and culture enthusiasts. Antonio D’Amico’s direction has enriched the offer with formats dedicated to different targets, such as “Stasera al Museo,” a cycle of evening shows that this year brought on stage exceptional guests such as Paola Turci, Giovanni Caccamo, Ippolita Baldini and Tindaro Granata. Other initiatives include “In Arte Veritas,” a series of tastings, and “Tea Talks,” art conversations at tea time, as well as exhibitions and collaborations with Italian cultural institutions.

To support the museum’s work, the Friends of the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum Association and the “Speechati” youth group, composed of under-35s who actively contribute to activities, have been established over time. An important contribution also comes from the volunteers who, since 1996, have been welcoming visitors, conveying their passion for this unique place.

Events from Nov. 20 to 24

The celebratory program includes five days of events and activities. From Nov. 20 to Nov. 24, the museum will offer free guided tours with reduced admission, and for the evening of Nov. 20, the show “Stasera al Museo” is scheduled with singer-songwriter Giuseppe Anastasi, famous for his collaborations with Arisa. On Nov. 23, a free lecture will be dedicated to the figure of Pier Fausto Bagatti Valsecchi, Giuseppe’s grandson and president of the museum until his recent death, whose contribution was fundamental to the evolution of the museum.

On Thursday, November 21, the official anniversary celebration will instead be held in the presence of the authorities, with admission by invitation only. Throughout the week, visitors will be able to access the museum with reduced-price tickets (€9 for admission to the Museum and €12 for the evening performance on Nov. 20). All detailed information about the celebrations is available on the official website of the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum.

Support for this anniversary comes from the Region of Lombardy, the City of Milan, and the Chamber of Commerce of Milan Monza and Brianza, as well as various sponsors, including ALTEMASI, Light Scene Studio, and Pasticceria Martesana. Radio Classica is the official anniversary radio station, and all visitors will be gifted products offered by the Museum’s partners, including Valverde water and Moak chocolate.

These celebratory events are an opportunity to reaffirm the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum’s commitment to the promotion of culture, keeping alive the spirit of welcoming and sharing that animated the founders. The 30th anniversary celebrations thus mark not only an important milestone in the museum’s history, but also a new chapter in opening up to the future and to an ever-widening public. All information about the celebrations will be available at museobagattivalsecchi.org

Milan, Bagatti Valsecchi Museum celebrates?its 30th anniversary

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