Top Attractions, Accommodation, Dining Tips

Although Milan is known as a global center for fashion and design, it is also one of the most exciting art cities in the world and the art could easily keep any visitor busy for days. Here are some of the best art museums to visit, the highlights of each, along with suggestions on where to stay and eat.

Modern Art

For starters, if you stay at the sumptuous Hotel Principe di Savoia, you can enjoy one of the city's best art trails. Fontana – Cutting space The walking tour has been created exclusively for guests of the hotel, which is part of the Dorchester Collection, which also offers special art tours at its other hotels. At Le Meurice in Paris, guests can choose from art tours of Picasso, Rodin or Monet, while 45 Park Lane features British sculptor Barbara Hepworth. The focus of the art tour in Milan is Lucio Fontana, one of Italy's most revolutionary modern artists, best known for his carved canvases. Art historian Olimpia Isidori has created a fascinating journey tracing Fontana's history from his move to Milan as a child from Argentina, his studies at the Brera Academy and his final rejection of his prestigious training at the Academy of Art to forge his own path. The tour includes a stop at a cafe frequented by Fontana, the art supply store where he obtained his materials, and a walk through the Brera Academy, where he studied in the late 1920s with the symbolist sculptor Adolfo Wildt. Fontana was the first known artist to cut his canvases, which he said symbolized a total rejection of all art theory.

Continuing with modern art, the Fondazione Prada is one of the most beautiful museums in Milan (designed by Rem Koolhaus). Pino Pascali's current exhibition (until September 23, 2024) presents an artist who is not so well known outside of Italy. This is a great retrospective of an artist who had a very short career (he died tragically in 1968 in a motorcycle accident at the age of 32). Considered part of the Italian Arte Povera (Italian: literally “poor art”) movement that took place between the late 1960s and early 1970s, Pascali was highly influential, and this retrospective shows why. Curated by Mark Godfrey, the show includes 49 works drawn from Italian and international museums and private collections. Taking place in three museum buildings, it is a must-see.

Formerly a Pirelli tire factory, Pirelli HangarBicocca was converted into 10,900 square meters of exhibition galleries in 2012. Currently on display is Jamaican-born American artist Nari Ward, who has recreated his installation ·lation Super Stud which he first did in 1994. Until July 28, 2024, it's a huge installation (in a huge hangar) and features large nets of colorful ropes suspended above, walls of discarded wooden pallets , pieces of buildings, broken pianos, and curtains made of Budweiser bottles and cans. It is a cacophonous work with raw material, found and made, which reminds us of the ideas of Arte Povera that you can see in the work of Pino Pascali.

One of the main attractions of HangarBicocca is a permanent installation by the German artist Anselm Kiefer: a kind of work that is breathed out loud. It was created as a temporary work for the opening of the museum in 2004, but it was so loved by the people of Milan that they decided to make it permanent. It consists of seven towers, each weighing 90 tons and height between 13 and 19 meters, created from reinforced concrete using shipping containers. The towers symbolize the mystical experience of ascent through the seven levels of spirituality in ancient Hebrew. Book of Palaces/Sanctuary, dating back to the 4th-5th centuries AD Art can sometimes be overwhelming and sometimes, it's supposed to be overwhelming. Art can also make one feel small, and again, sometimes that's on purpose. Kiefer's work at HangarBicocca does both, with a truly monumental work of biblical proportions.

Classical Art

The Brera Museum is the largest classical art museum in Milan, among which stand out The Lamentation of Christ (1480) by Andrea Mantegna, with its famous extreme foreshortening, and a sublime Raphael, Wedding of the Virgin (1504), which brings architectural perspective (a new Renaissance trick) to the fore by leaving poor Mary and Joseph as bit players. There is also that of Caravaggio Dinner at Emmaus (1605-6), a masterful demonstration of chiaroscuro and waving hands, later copy (by Caravaggio) of that in the National Gallery, London.

And speaking of Caravaggio, the bad boy of the Renaissance art world, al Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, a museum less visited than the Brera but with so many emblematic works, we find theirs Fruit basket (1599), considered one of the first examples of still life in European painting. The hyper-realistic basket seems to be teetering on the edge of the image-space, in danger of falling out of the painting and into the viewer's space.

The other great masterpiece here is the largest surviving Renaissance caricature and was made by Raphael as preparatory work for his work. The school of Athens (1509-11) in the Vatican.

Finally, the Ambrosian Library (your ticket gets you to both) houses the largest collection of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, the Codex Atlanticus. A rare opportunity to see his notebooks up close at the exhibition. And don't miss Leonardo's beautiful portrait of a musician (c. 1483–1487) hidden in the basement!

the last supper

You can't go on an art visit to Milan without seeing one of the most famous paintings in the world, Michelangelo's masterpiece, the last supper the scene of the last supper of Jesus with his disciples. On the wall of the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the mural was commissioned as part of a project to renovate the church and its convent buildings by Da Vinci's patron Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. Although you can try to reserve tickets on the museum's website, they sell out months in advance. A better option is to book a tour with one of the many guides, thus ensuring access. A good option is the tour company, Get Your Guide, which offers a guided walking tour of Milan and a visit to the Last Supper.

where to be

The elegant five-star Principe di Savoia, part of the Dorchester Collection, offers a quiet location near the Porta Nuova district, with a free car service to the historic center and the best luxury stay in Milan . Open since 1927, this is one of Milan's great historic hotels. Common areas feature attractive Art Deco features that will take you back in time, while rooms feature an attractive mix of 19th-century decor with contemporary touches, such as heavy Italian curtains, luxurious wallpaper and beautiful ceramic tiles in the bathrooms. . The top floor spa offers great views of the city and the hearty breakfast is one of the best in town.

For smaller budgets, the four-star NH Milano City Life is a great business hotel with large, spacious rooms, a hearty breakfast buffet, and a rooftop pool next to the metro. Or, within walking distance of the city's main attractions, Sonder Missori is a stylish choice, with 40 modern and well-appointed rooms.

Where to eat and drink

At the Principe Savoia, the Acanto restaurant offers a modern Italian menu in elegant surroundings. Delicious handmade pasta dishes and highly creative desserts make for a satisfying dining experience.

If you're looking for a trendy spot for cocktails and tapas, the sprawling Moebius in a former textile workshop near Central Station has a chic industrial vibe. It houses a vinyl shop, two restaurants Sperimentale and Tapa Bistrot, plus live entertainment.

Since 1911, and still in the same family, Jamaica, a bar and cafe near the Brera Museum, has been a favorite watering hole for creatives over the years, including Lucio Fontana and Allen Ginsberg.