Brera Palace

Brera Palace is a monumental palace in Milan. It was a Jesuit college for two hundred years. From 1773 the palace became home to a number of cultural, scientific and artistic institutions.nIn 1859 a bronze copy of Antonio Canova’s statue of Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker, cast in Rome in 1811 by Francesco Righetti and his son Luigi, was placed at the centre of the courtyard of the palace.nIt now houses several cultural institutions including the Accademia di Brera, the art academy of the city, and its gallery, the Pinacoteca di Brera; the Orto Botanico di Brera, a botanical garden; an observatory; the Istituto Lombardo Accademia di Scienze e Lettere, a learned society; and an important library, the Biblioteca di Brera.