The Brera Gallery was officially established in 1809, even though a first heterogeneous collection with educational purpose existed already from 1776 – and then increased in the following years – alongside the Accademia di Belle Arti, requested by Mary Therese of Austria to offer the students the opportunity to study lofty masterpieces of art close up. Brera become a museum to host the most important works of art from all of the areas conquered by the French armies. So unlike other important museums in Italy such as the Uffizi, Brera did not start out life as the private collection of a prince or nobleman but as the product of a deliberate policy decision. Paintings confiscated from churches and convents throughout Lombardy with the religious orders’ dissolution began to pour into the museum in the early years of the 19th century, soon to be joined by artworks of similar provenance from other areas of the Kingdom of Italy. This explains why the collection comprises chiefly religious works, many of them large altarpieces, and accounts for Brera’s special aura on which later acquisitions have had only a minor impact.

The owners were an industrial family of the XX century. We’ve been there a couple of times and we suggest it to every friend who is coming to town. You walk through the villa in the exact way they left it. You can see their personal pictures framed in the living room, their wardrobes and drawers full of stuff, like a pair of silk scarves especially designed by Monsieur Christian Dior for the sisters Gigina and Nedda Necchi, even the big marble’s bathrooms designed, like the entire house, by the architect Piero Portaluppi are inspiring.

Uberta Zambeletti is a storyteller, and this shop is the one truly favourite fairytale she likes to tell the most. Wander around this cabinet of curiosities and discover how to live your own fairytale through clothing; how to look cool every day, at any moment.

Home of the negroni sbagliato. God fun for an aperitivo served in a gigantic glass, especially popular during Salone del Mobile.

An icon of 1930s art deco in the heart of Milan. Villa Necchi was built by Pietro Portaluppi for the Necchi Campiglio family, which belonged to the Lombard industrial bourgeoisie.