Milan, Palazzo Citterio officially opens, inaugurating Grande Brera

In Milan, Palazzo Citterio officially opens its doors, realizing the dream of Franco Russoli, visionary director of the Brera Art Gallery from 1957 until his death in 1977, who had envisioned what he called “La Grande Brera.” An aspiration cultivated for more than half a century became a reality with the inauguration of the 18th-century Palazzo Fürstenberg, later known as Palazzo Citterio. Acquired by the state in 1972, it was at the center of the ambitious vision of Superintendents Gian Alberto Dell’Acqua and Franco Russoli, who envisioned a space capable of expanding the museum toward 20th-century art, transforming it into a center not only of conservation but also of research and innovation.

From December 8, visitors will thus be able to access a place that had been closed for decades, now returned to the city. Here, the Jesi and Vitali collections, which include more than 200 works, including masterpieces by Italian and international artists such as Carrà, Morandi, Boccioni, Modigliani, Picasso and Braque, will be on display with an innovative layout. In addition, the completely renovated spaces will host pmostres dedicated to modern and contemporary art.

“We have been working since last Jan. 15, the day I took office, focusing on the date of Dec. 7,” said Angelo Crespi, director general of the Brera Art Gallery, Palazzo Citterio and the Braidense Library. “We have set ourselves the task of concluding the 50-year journey of Palazzo Citterio by 2024, because we believe that it is a dutiful act, ethically and economically, to open this building that allows the expansion of the Pinacoteca, crowning Franco Russoli’s dream of realizing the Great Brera, i.e. a new way of thinking about the historic Brera building with the adjoining Palazzo Citterio, of thinking of it as a unique place with its many functions and an ancient collection and one of modern art, among the most important in the world.”

Over the years, Palazzo Citterio has undergone numerous renovations, which began in the 1980s. Several projects followed one another with different allocations of funds by the Ministry: from the first project conceived by Giancarlo Ortelli and Edoardo Sianesi, to renovations that led to the creation of significant spaces, such as the one commissioned in 1986 by the Associazione Amici di Brera to architect James Stirling. In the 2000s, the focus shifted to the redefinition of the underground spaces and the arrangement of the unbuilt spaces. In 2012, a major appropriation enabled the start of work completed in part in 2018. After the Palazzo’s handover to then-Brera director James Bradburne, the planning was extended until the end of his term in October 2023 while, in the meantime, 20th-century works belonging to the Jesi and Vitali collections had been temporarily relocated to the Napoleonic rooms of the Pinacoteca, placed in on-sight storage rooms created in 2019 thanks to the support of the Giulio and Giovanna Sacchetti Foundation. Angelo Crespi’s inauguration on January 15, 2024, marked the start of a new project that included major structural consolidation work on part of the building, improvement of the HVAC systems for museum air conditioning, and the creation of new layouts, harmonized with previous restorations conducted by the Superintendency. The work, which began in June, was completed on Oct. 31.

During this phase, architect Mario Cucinella contributed to the project, while art historians and curators were able to experience, for the first time in a museum, augmented reality through NOOR software. This innovative tool made it possible to simulate the placement of artworks and assess the organization of exhibition spaces in real time.

The main floor

At the center of the Palazzo Citterio, on the piano nobile, is now Room 40, a large space that creates continuity with the Pinacoteca di Brera, where the collections extend back to 1861. Designed by Isabella Marelli, who recently passed away, the room houses Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo’s La Fiumana, the starting point for the two collections: the Jesi, which faces Via Brera, and the Vitali, facing the garden.

The organization of the works, curated by Marina Gargiulo, art historian in charge of the Pinacoteca’s 20th-century collections, was designed by thematic and chronological nuclei. A particular challenge concerned the Vitali collection, which is heterogeneous: while the Jesi focuses on 20th-century art, the Vitali embraces a wide temporal spectrum, including archaeological finds, medieval and Baroque works, up to works by Morandi.

The main floor will display masterpieces from the Italian and international 20th century, with works by artists such as Boccioni, Modigliani, Morandi, and Picasso. They also include the Minimal Self-Portraits of Great Artists of the 20th Century that belonged to Cesare Zavattini, and Mario Mafai’s 23 Fantasies, a visionary series denouncing the horrors of war, donated by Aldo Bassetti, former president of the Friends of Brera. The Pinacoteca has also enriched its holdings with new acquisitions, including masterpieces by Picasso, de Chirico, Savinio, Campigli, Cassinari, Melotti and de Pisis, which will find space in the rooms of the Palazzo.

Architect Mario Cucinella, working with ERCO for lighting and Goppion for display cases and museum cases, has developed a project inspired by the principles of inclusiveness and dialogue between Palazzo Citterio and the city. One of the distinctive elements is the Temple, a circular wooden structure that serves as a connecting point between the exterior and the various rooms of the Grande Brera, offering visitors a covered space where they can sit and pause. This space, donated by Salone del Mobile Milano, recalls the Bramante style and dialogues with the Pinacoteca, drawing inspiration from Raphael’s The Marriage of the Virgin. The entrances to Palazzo Citterio, at numbers 12 and 14 on Via Brera, have been rethought as welcoming and livable places.

The entrance hall, accessible from 14 Via Brera, houses a multifunctional table-sculpture that integrates ticketing, info point and bookshop. With its curved lines and built-in seating, this structure invites visitors to explore the Great Brera. Works by digital artists flow on a large ledwall.

For the opening, an agreement between Brera, the National Museum of Digital Art (MNAD) and MEET Digital Culture Center made possible the display of part of Renaissance Dreams, an artificial intelligence-generated work signed by digital artist Refik Anadol. The installation, visible from December 7, 2024 to March 30, 2025, uses a huge dataset of images and texts produced between 1300 and 1600 in Italy, transformed by algorithms that generate original shapes, colors and sounds. The work can be enjoyed in its entirety only in MEET’s Immersive Room.

Studio Cucinella designed dedicated display cases for works from the Jesi and Vitali collections. In the Hall of Mirrors, archaeological artifacts are displayed on a display table arranged in vitrines of different heights to evoke the image of an urban skyline. In addition, a reading space inspired by historic drawing rooms was created on the second floor, flanked by a bookcase for the display of parchments and ancient texts, restoring pre-existing furniture.

Temporary exhibitions: second floor and Stirling Hypogeum

The second floor and the Stirling Hypogeum have been earmarked to host temporary exhibitions. For the opening, from December 8, 2024 to March 9, 2025, the second floor will host the exhibition La Grande Brera. A Community of Arts and Sciences, curated by Luca Molinari. The exhibition traces the architectural and social evolution of the Brera complex, documenting the transformation from a monolithic building to a large integrated urban fragment connecting institutions, cultural heritage, community and planning.
The exhibit, designed by architect Francesco Librizzi, is divided into three sections: an introductory part on the Great Brera, which presents a general view of the project and its philosophy; a long section on the architectural history of Brera and Palazzo Citterio; and an in-depth look at structural and functional changes over time.

In parallel, the Braidense National Library will present, from December 12, 2024 to March 15, 2025, the exhibition La Grande Brera in Braidense. Curated by Cecilia Angeletti and Marina Zetti with support from Marta Milani and Silvia Remigi, the exhibition explores the history of the Library through its historical holdings and a correspondence drawn from the archives. The path, organized chronologically, guides visitors from the Library’s founding to the present, with ninety precious documents displayed in the showcases of the Maria Teresa Room and in the atrium.

In the hypogeum of Palazzo Citterio, on the other hand, the exhibition Mario Ceroli. La forza di sognare ancora, curated by Cesare Biasini Selvaggi. The exhibition includes ten unpublished monumental works created by Mario Ceroli over the past year specifically for these spaces.

Photo by Walter Vecchio

Milan, Palazzo Citterio officially opens, inaugurating Grande Brera

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