Museo Poldi Pezzoli
Museo Poldi Pezzoli occupies a former noble residence in central Milan, where rooms hold paintings, weapons, furniture, textiles, and jewellery. The mansion began as the private home of Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli, an art collector from a Milanese family. Giuseppe Balzaretto completed the building in the early 1860s, while Giuseppe Bertini and Luigi Scrosati shaped its interiors.
Ancient weapons formed the first part of the collection, which later expanded into paintings, gold and silver jewellery, carpets, and tapestries. Church and monastery artworks joined these holdings during the Italian government reforms of the 1860s. The museum opened to the public in 1881, after Poldi Pezzoli’s death in 1879 and his bequest of the palace and collections.
World War Two damaged the building, but the collections remained preserved through the destruction. Postwar restoration received 250 million lire from the Italian government and led to reopening in 1951. Works by Pollaiolo, Mantegna, Botticelli, and Raphael provide its most recognisable artistic landmarks.
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Image: G.dallortoAttribution 
Image: Sandro BotticelliPublic domain 
Image: Piero del PollaiuoloPublic domain 
Image: Snowdance.jpg: Rick Dikeman, derivative work: HekeruiCC BY-SA 3.0
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