Pinoteca Ambrosiana

Pinoteca Ambrosiana or Pinoteca di Berea is the oldest museum in Milan.  Beginning in 1618, la Pinoteca di Berea began as the home of the collected works of art for Cardinal Federico Borromeo. Built on the remains of a 14th-century monastery the museum now holds a vast collection of 13th - 20th century Italian and foreign art.  Many famous historical individuals have had a hand in the creation and expansion of this museum, such as Napolean Bonaparte and Empress Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria.  Empress Maria Teresa promoted the Academy of Fine Arts here at la Pinoteca as a learning or teaching academy; which explains many of the copies of famous pieces.  But don't be fooled, there are copious originals by Botticelli, Titian, and Caravaggio, a rare oil sketch by da Vinci, and a huge scale sketch by Raphael.  All of the Ninja Turtle greats are featured in this museum!  

Students had a double class today, with lessons in the morning and a scavenger-styled art hunt in the afternoon.  Using their newly acquired language skills they not only described the paintings but also described how the works of art made them feel.   We encouraged the students to return to see the entire museum on their own!  So many more masterpieces to discover, and not enough time.