The Brera Gallery [antikvár]

The Brera: History of an Art Gallery Rosalba Tardito When we speak of the Brera we are not only referring to a great art gallery, but also to that group of institutions, including the Academy of Fine Art, the Library, the Observatory and the Lombard Institute of Science, Letters and Arts, which carry on their various activities in a building which has played an outstanding role in the history of Milan. As a State museum, the Brera Art Gallery had a somewhat unusual beginning, which may be Unked to that of the Gallerie dell'Ac-cademia in Venice and the Bologna Pinacote-ca. But first of all it is necessary to take a look at the origins and the historical vicissitudes of the Palazzo di Brera. It seems that in 1171, on an area of grassland known as "Brayda," a building was constructed for the Humiliati, who, following a bull issued by Pope Innocent III in 1201, became a true reUgious order subject to monastic rules. Their monastery with its accompanying cloister was enhanced around 1240 by the building of the church of Santa Maria. In 1347 the Pisan Giovanni di Balduccio completed the church and the decoration with the sculptures of the white marble portal. The Humiliati order was at the height of its glory from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries owing to its involvement in the wool industry, together with its rehgious and cultural activities. In fact, many frescoes embellished the church, which was partly the work of a Tuscan artist associated with Giusto dei Mena-buoi; in the sacristy there were frescoes by the Lombard Vincenzo Foppa and an altar-piece by Bernadino Luini dated 1515, the Virgin and Child with Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Barbara. However, the abundant wealth led to such a degree of moral laxity that in 1571 Charles Borromeo, as part of his campaign to promote greater rigour among the clergy, obtained from Pope Pius V the dissolution of the order. With a papal bull, in 1572 the monastery became the property of the Jesuits, who founded a college. Although it was not inferior to other Itahan cities in any way, at that time Milan lacked both a college and a university. Due to the importance of the subjects taught there, in a short time the Jesuit college became a university; soon there were two thousand students, consequently the need was felt to expand and modernise the building. The design of this was entrusted to the Milanese architect Martino Bassi between 1580 and 1589. The plans were entirely revised by Francesco Maria Richini (the drawings are in the Bibhoteca Ambrosiana and the Bibhoteca Trivulziana). The lecture halls, the Kbrary and the main stairway, which still exists, with two flights of stairs from the courtyard surrounded by loggias were built between 1600 and 1700. In 1764 an observatory with a square tower was built by the Jesuit priest Ruggero Giuseppe Boscovich; it was considered to be one of the best in Europe in the late eighteenth century. Thanks to the reforms carried out by Empress Maria Theresa, Milan enjoyed a long period of peace and prosperity. The Jesuit order was dissolved in 1773 and Brera College became a secular institution. Meanwhile the Academy of Fine Art was set up in 1776, so that "the arts of painting, sculpture, architecture and ornamental design might be taught free of charge by skilled teachers." The administration of the Academy was entrusted to a "permanent secretary." Also in 1774 the Botanical Garden was estabUshed. However, all these new developments required the building to be further expanded. The planning of this was entrusted in 1774 to the "Archducal and State" architect Giuseppe Piermarini. He enlarged the library, creating the Sala Teresiana (still extant); from the former monastery he obtained the rooms for the Academy, taking as his model the one in Vienna which had been designed by Jadot. In 1775 he expanded the Observatory, in which new instruments were fitted, and improved the Botanical Garden with the building of a number of hothouses. The magnificent portal in the centre of the recently completed façade was also the work of Piermarini. Thus in this building were gathered not only the schools which had been . . I ¦ '. ! ¦ ki Jt