MILAN (AP) 鈥� Milan鈥檚 Pinacoteca di Brera museum, conceived under Napoleon as a 鈥渓ittle Louvre,鈥� is finally getting first envisioned more than 50 years ago with the opening Sunday of home to one of the world鈥檚 most important collections of 20th century Italian art.
Completing the project long beset by shifting priorities, periods of neglect and most recently an ill-fated architectural vision was a priority for Brera director Angelo Crespi when he took over in January.
Italy's then-culture minister set Dec. 7 鈥� the feast day for Milan鈥檚 patron St. Ambrose 鈥� as the target opening date, giving Crespi just months to resolve structural issues and oversee the installation of hundreds of modern works of art donated to the Brera decades ago.
On deadline, the current culture minister, Alessandro Giuli, who inherited the project in September, inaugurated Palazzo Citterio on Saturday鈥檚 feast day, ahead of the public opening on Sunday.
The accelerated timeline after decades of delays 鈥渨asn鈥檛 to prove something," Crespi told The Associated Press.
鈥淭here was awareness that it needed to be opened," he said. "The question was not just economic, but also ethical. After 52 years, we couldn鈥檛 keep such a beautiful building closed simply because of inertia.鈥�
The Palazzo Citterio opening completes a decades-old vision for a 鈥淕rande Brera,鈥� which encompasses also the Pinacoteca and the Braidense National Library, just as it takes on greater heft in the Italian cultural landscape.
From Dec. 2, the Grande Brera also incorporated into its fold Leonardo da Vinci鈥檚 鈥淟ast Supper,鈥� arguably Italy鈥檚 most famous masterpiece. The fragile wall mural is located in a church complex a kilometer (half a mile) away from the Pinacoteca and Palazzo Citterio.
The merger creates a system of state-run museums in Milan that boosts Brera鈥檚 cachet and gives Crespi significant autonomy in their management, including control over 80% of revenue.
Combined, the 鈥淟ast Supper,鈥� and the Pinacoteca di Brera, receive 1 million visitors a year, and take in more than 10 million euros ($10.5 million) in revenue, Crespi said. As a single entity, they are among the top 10 most-visited sites in Italy.
Crespi hopes to use this greater visibility to promote other institutes in the Brera complex, including the Academy of Fine Arts, botanical gardens and an observatory, while also pitching Milan 鈥� better known for fashion and finance 鈥� as a city of the arts.
Beside the Grande Brera鈥檚 vast collections and the 鈥淟ast Supper,鈥� masterpieces by Michelangelo, Canova, Caravaggio, Raffaello, Bellini, Piero della Francesca and others are displayed in museums and landmarks within walking distance of Milan's central Duomo cathedral. Yet they are often overlooked by visitors.
鈥淎ll of the biggest masterpieces and names who made Italian art great over the centuries are concentrated within a few hundred meters,鈥� Crespi said, adding that as an art city, Milan can rival Florence, Rome and Venice.
The Grande Brera should become 鈥渢he motor of this narration of Milan as a city of art," he said.
By spring, the Pinacoteca di Brera will be linked to Palazzo Citterio, a few minutes' walk away, by a passageway through the botanical gardens behind the museums.
Inside Palazzo Citterio, visitors are greeted by the monumental late 19th century painting 鈥淗uman Flood,鈥� by Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, intended as a bridge from the Pinacoteca's collection that is rich in Italian Renaissance and Baroque art taken from areas conquered by Napoleon's army.
In the new museum, hundreds of artworks donated to the Brera decades ago by the art collectors Emilio Jesi and Lamberto Vitali form 鈥渁 manual of Italian contemporary art,鈥� with a particular focus on Giorgio Morandi, said curator Marina Gargiulo.
Jesi, who lived in an apartment in the palazzo, focused his collection on painters who were his contemporaries in the 1930-1960s, most of them Italian artists, with notable exceptions including Picasso.
Vitali's tastes were more eclectic, ranging from archaeological artifacts to Byzantine mosaics and art from the medieval era through the 20th century, with paintings by his friend Morandi and by Modigliani, Gargiulo said.
The new museum also includes a series of 152 miniature self-portraits commissioned by Italian neorealistic screenwriter Cesare Zavattini.
Workers were still installing the permanent collection and an exhibition two days before the public opening, and Crespi said his own staff suggested postponing the opening as the date neared. But he held fast.
鈥淥therwise, we could have entered in a new loop, with more years of other ideas, other projects. It is the right moment and we need to do it,鈥� Crespi said.
For now, the Palazzo Citterio will be open Thursday-Sunday from 2 p.m.-7 p.m., while the Pinacoteca di Brera is open Tuesday-Sunday from 8:30 a.m. until 7:15 p.m. Reservations are recommended for Leonardo鈥檚 Last Supper Museum, open from 8:15 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, with a maximum 40 people admitted every 15 minutes.
Colleen Barry, The Associated Press
