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.

Cozy ambient inside, but also with tables on the street, Champagne Socialist is a good place to try natural wines from Europe. You can also go there just to buy a bootle (or more, of course) and drink it at home.

Best designer clothing store in Milan (in my humble opinion!).

Art and design museum in the Parco Sempione. Some permanent and some rotating exhibitions. Definitely visit the Casa Lana installation and the Italian Design permanent exhibit.

Starting from the end of the Nineties, the Gallery knew how to cut out its own space and become the reference point to lovers of historical design as well as to people following the evolution of contemporary design, above all within that more learned, poetic and visionary area shifting between production and contemporary art. Nina Yashar, the gallery founder, works with her sister Nilu and a team of five people. Nilufar took part in several editions of Pavillon des Arts et du Design in Paris and is always present at Design Miami/Basel. Nilufar has its own small manifesto, composed of three words: Discovering, Crossing, Creating. Discovering Novecento is the century of design, a source of extraordinary stories and objects which will be dealt with again for a long time, waiting just for the right time to come out of the oblivion. According to Nilufar's vision, modern antique dealing is an old definition. It is necessary to shift towards a less vague word, searching for names, projects, schools, manufactures, countries making history and deserving to be proposed again. Crossing The history of taste is a never-ending exercise of decomposition and re-composition, just like a kaleidoscope... This continuous joining together of pieces and traditions houses an open eye, heedless of labels, able to cross fences created by time, geography and cultural matrixes, aware that assonances and contrasts can be two sides of the same coin. This is the idea of Crossings, the name of two successful exhibitions Nilufar held in 1999 and 2000, a true invitation to build new visions of the world, being far more personal and freer. Creating Milan is an interesting lab and a privileged point to observe the euphoric and restless scene of design. Nilufar gives life to projects, editions, site-specific shows and publications, working both with great masters and emerging authors. Nilufar is operating in the scouting of new talents. Creating means bringing about occasions, sparkles. It means also obtaining new spaces and filling them with value for the future. Here in Italy we know how to do it: Renaissance was born here!