Brera Academy - History

History

• 1572: The ownership of the Palazzo Brera, built on the ruins of a convent of the Humiliati, was transferred to the Jesuits. The name "Brera" derives from the German term "braida" (Breite) which indicates a large grassy clearing, referring to the spot where the namesake building that still houses the headquarters of the Academy is located.
• 1627-1628: The restoration of the building was entrusted to the architect Francesco Maria Richini.
• 1772: The Society of Jesus was suppressed; the Palazzo Brera received a new institutional framework, including the Brera Astronomical Observatory, the National Braidense Library and the Brera Botanical Garden.
• 1776: The Brera Academy was founded by Maria Theresa of Austria, with the official mission of "Providing teaching in Fine Arts to craftsmen and private artists, subject to public supervision and public opinion". The project was entrusted to the architect Giuseppe Piermarini and that same year the Academy hosted the first chair of Architecture. Also in 1776, the Brera Art Gallery (Pinacoteca di Brera) was founded for educational purposes. The Brera Art Gallery, a museum of international standing, houses the most important collection in Milan today. It includes, among other masterpieces, works by Giovanni Bellini, Boccioni, Botticelli, Caravaggio, Hayez, Leonardo da Vinci, Mantegna, Modigliani, Picasso, Piero della Francesca, Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Tiepolo, Tintoretto, Titian and Veronese.

• 1809: The architectural complex of Palazzo Brera was adapted to its new function, following the design of Pietro Gilardoni. The fourteenth-century façade of the Church of Santa Maria di Brera attributed to Giovanni di Balduccio from Pisa, was destroyed. The plan aimed to provide larger spaces to the Academy Schools of Painting and Sculpture and to enlarge the exhibition halls of the galleries above. After demolition, the bas-reliefs and sculptures and fragments of the façade of the portal of the Church were transferred to the Museo d'Arte Antica of the Sforza Castle in Milan, where they are still visible to these days. The works that decorated the inside of the church, made by Bernardino Luini, Bernardo Senale, Bartolomeo Suardi known as Bramantino and Vincenzo Foppa, are now in the Brera Art Gallery and in the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan. Other parts of frescoes attributed to Giusto de' Menabuoi, bases of columns, capitals and wall decorations are still visible in the classrooms used by the Design Department of Design and Applied Arts.
• 1859: Following a visit by Napoleon III, the bronze statue Napoleon I as a peacemaker Mars was placed at the center of the Palazzo Brera court, on a marble pedestal designed by Luigi Bisi. The statue was commissioned by Eugène de Beauharnais in 1807, and produced in Rome in the years 1811-1812 from a model by Antonio Canova.

• 1863: The Archaeological Museum was founded.
• 1891: The School of Architecture was founded.
• 1923: The reform of the Italian schools promoted by Giovanni Gentile after the First World War instituted the "Liceo Artistico" (art high school) in the same premises of the Academy. Adolfo Wildt, Francesco Messina and Marino Marini were nominated heads of the Sculpture Department. Notable students from this period are Lucio Fontana and Fausto Melotti. The Fresco chair was established for Achille Funi.
• 1931: The School of Architecture moved to the Politecnico di Milano.
• 1946: After the Second World War, the Academy continued under the direction of Aldo Carpi, with Guido Ballo as Professor of Art History, in addition to Alik Cavaliere and Andrea Cascella (sculpture), Mauro Reggiani, Domenico Cantatore, Pompeo Borra and Domenico Purificato (painting).