Palazzo di Brera

In front of you opens one of the most elegant courtyards in Milan, with two storeys of arches resting on paired columns. In the middle a surprise awaits: Napoleon, naked as an ancient god.

1From the Umiliati to the Jesuits

The name comes from braida, a Lombard word for an open field outside a town. This was the site of a convent of the Umiliati, an order suppressed in 1571. Its property passed to the Jesuits, who built a college; from 1615 the works were directed by Francesco Maria Richini. When the Society of Jesus was dissolved in 1773, Maria Theresa of Austria turned the building into a centre of learning: an astronomical observatory, a botanical garden, a library and, from 1776, an Academy of Fine Arts. Giuseppe Piermarini, the architect of La Scala, completed the palace.

2The emperor as Mars

Under Napoleon, Brera filled up with paintings taken from suppressed churches and convents. That is how the Pinacoteca was born, home to works such as Mantegna's «Dead Christ», Raphael's «Marriage of the Virgin» and Hayez's «The Kiss». The statue is a bronze version of Antonio Canova's marble showing Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker. It was cast in 1811 but not set up in the courtyard until 1859.

The little winged Victory in his hand was stolen in 1978; the one you see is a copy from 1984.

3What to look for

• The statue of Napoleon, with the spear and the Victory.
• The paired columns of the courtyard, Richini's signature.
• The statues of scholars and artists under the arcades.