The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of ...

in the Montenapoleone district of downtown Milan,

northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

. The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum's permanent collections principally contain

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose aim is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. This includes most of the objects for the interiors of buildings, as well as interior design, but typically excl ...

(such as

maiolica Maiolica is tin-glazed pottery decorated in colours on a white background. The most renowned Italian maiolica is from the Renaissance period. These works were known as ''istoriato'' wares ("painted with stories") when depicting historical and ...

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

tapestry Tapestry is a form of Textile arts, textile art which was traditionally Weaving, woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical piece ...

metalwork Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals in order to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term, it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on e ...

, leather,

glassware upTypical drinkware. This list of glassware includes drinking vessels (drinkware), tableware used to set a table for eating a meal and generally glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry. It does not include laboratory ...

and precious table-top coffers made of

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

, or “

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

and

pastiglia ''Pastiglia'' , an Italian term meaning "pastework", is low relief decoration, normally modelled in gesso or white lead, applied to build up a surface that may then be gilding, gilded or painted, or left plain. The technique was used in a variet ...

”), some sculptures (including a ''Madonna and Child'' lunette by a follower of

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

), and many paintings. European Renaissance weapons,

armor Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, e ...

, clocks and a few

textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

and scientific and

musical instruments A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

complete the collection assembled by the Barons Bagatti Valsecchi, and displayed in their home, as per their wishes.

Paintings

The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum, although originally intended as a private home, not a gallery, has an interesting collection of Italian Renaissance paintings. A few are from the

Trecento The Trecento (, also , ; short for , "1300") refers to the 14th century in Italian cultural history. The Trecento is considered to be the beginning of the Italian Renaissance or at least the Proto-Renaissance in art history. The Trecento was als ...

/14th century and the

Seicento The Seicento (, ) is Italian history and culture during the 17th century. The Seicento saw the end of the Italian Renaissance, Renaissance movement in Italy and the beginning of the Counter-Reformation and the Baroque era. The word means "six hu ...

/17th century, but most date to the

Quattrocento The cultural and artistic events of Italy during the period 1400 to 1499 are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento (, , ) from the Italian word for the number 400, in turn from , which is Italian for the year 1400. The Quattrocento encom ...

/15th century, or the

Cinquecento The cultural and artistic events of Italy during the period 1500 to 1599 are collectively referred to as the Cinquecento (, ), from the Italian for the number 500, in turn from , which is Italian for the year 1500. Cinquecento encompasses the st ...

/16th century. They include: * ''S. Giustina de’ Borromeis'',

Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 29 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, ...

, c. 1475 * ''Beatified Lorenzo Giustiniani'',

Gentile Bellini Gentile Bellini (c. 1429 – 23 February 1507) was an Italian painter of the Venetian painting, school of Venice. He came from Venice's leading family of painters, and, at least in the early part of his career, was more highly regarded than his y ...

, c. 1470, in its original frame * ''Christ in Majesty, Virgin, Christ Child and Saints'', Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli, aka Giampietrino, 1540s (painter inspired by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

) * ''S. Francis, S. John the Baptist'',

Bernardo Zenale Bernardo (or Bernardino) Zenale (c. 1460 – 1526) was an Italian painter and architect. Biography Zenale was born in Treviglio, Lombardy, where in 1485 he finished the great polyptych for the church of St. Martin, together with his fellow Be ...

, c. 1507 (painter inspired by

) * ''S. Francis and S. Mary Magdalen; the Prophet Isaiah'', Lorenzo di Niccolò, active in Florence between 1391 and 1412, originally found in the Medici Chapel of

Santa Croce, Florence The ( Italian for 'Basilica of the Holy Cross') is a minor basilica and the principal Franciscan church of Florence, Italy. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 metres southeast of the Duomo, on what was once marshland beyond ...

* Four allegorical figures, Andrea Lilio, oil on canvas, 1640s

DEMHIST

The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum, home to DEMHIST, ICOM's International Committee for Historic House Museums from its founding in 1998 until the end of the board's first triennial in 2002, continues to support activities geared to furthering our understanding of this kind of museum.

Notes

External links

Bagatti Valsecchi Museum official website
{{Authority control Museums established in 1974 Buildings and structures completed in 1880 Decorative arts museums in Italy International Council of Museums Art museums and galleries in Milan Historic house museums in Italy 1974 establishments in Italy Palaces in Milan Neoclassical architecture in Milan Tourist attractions in Milan