The Ambrosiana Gallery in Milan

The recent restoration of the Ambrosiana Gallery Library has permitted the full recovery of one of the oldest and most prestigious cultural foundations in Europe. It was founded by Cardinal Federico Borromeo in 1607 and inaugurated 2 years later, in 1609 as symbol of one of the public libraries in the world.

Later in 1618 the Gallery was opened to house the very rich collection of several paintings donated by the same Cardinal. It was a great success, in fact so many people went to visit it and were impressed by the beauty of the paintings.

Other kind of art are related to the Gallery: intellectuals of the past centuries, from Stendhal to Manzoni, from Flaubert to D’Annunzio, visited and frequented the Library very often, since it housed (and still does it) an extraordinary collection of paitings, drawings, illuminated codices and antiques books, documenting the culture of all periods.