More than half a century and 39 Italian governments after it was first envisioned, a new museum will open later this year to house modern art from Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera gallery.
The Brera Modern, just a few doors from the main gallery, has been plagued by numerous delays, most recently the discovery of asbestos and problems with the conditioning system.
The museum is to officially open on 7 December, when the eyes of the European cultural elite will already be on Milan for the annual gala premiere of La Scala’s opera season, officials said on Monday.
The honour falls to the new Brera director, Angelo Crespi, who took over in February as part of moves by the hard-right-led government to put Italians at the head of key cultural institutions.
His predecessor, the British-Canadian historian James Bradburne, who had pushed to finish the Modern, had completed two four-year terms and was ineligible to continue.
The Brera, established in 1809, contains masterpieces by Canova, Caravaggio, Raphael and Hayez. But many of its modern works had long been relegated to storage.
The new museum in the nearby Palazzo Citterio has already drawn 30,000 visitors over three weeks for a temporary exhibition. Concerts are planned in the garden this summer.
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The Brera, with the addition of the Modern, is expected to reach 500,000 visitors this year, up from 466,709 last year and pre-pandemic highs of about 410,000.