MILAN AND PINACOTECA DI BRERA IN BERTEL THORVALDSEN’S TIME

In connection to our special exhibition ‘Longings: Thorvaldsen's Italian Paintings’,  you can now join us for a free afternoon seminar on the Italian paintings of the Pinacoteca di Brera. 

Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844) was appointed an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan in 1811 and visited the city several times in the years up to 1841. He had been interested in the art of painting throughout his life, and when he and the painter J.L. Lund had a week-long stay in Milan in the summer of 1819 with a visit to the "Galleria", this was most likely Pinacoteca di Brera.

 

Pinacoteca di Brera first opened its doors to the public on Napoleon's birthday, August 15, 1809. Napoleon was king of Italy at this time and wanted the museum in Milan to be the Italian counterpart to the Louvre in Paris. He therefore robbed excellent paintings from Venetian and Lombard churches to exhibit them in the Pinacoteca together with the collections of the Milanese Academy of Arts.

However, what Thorvaldsen could see during his visits were in several ways different from what we can experience today.

In connection with our current exhibition “Longings. Thorvaldsen's Italian paintings”, we have therefore asked Elisabetta Bianchi, Pinacoteca di Brera, and Chiara Battezzati, Musei Civici in Milan, to introduce us to the Pinacoteca and to the art of painting that was available for Thorvaldsen to experience in the city:

What was Milan like in the first half of the 19th century? And the Pinacoteca di Brera? Join this one hour talk and get a brief journey through the lively 19th-century city and its Picture Gallery.

The presentation will be given in English at 

The event is made in a collaboration with Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Copenhagen.