Brera Academy

The Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera is a state-run art academy in Milan, Italy. It shares its main building, the Palazzo Brera, with the Pinacoteca di Brera, the city’s leading public art museum. The academy was founded in 1776 by Maria Theresa of Austria during the Enlightenment, when it housed not only art but also an observatory, a botanical garden, a library and scientific laboratories. The Palazzo Brera itself dates from about 1615 and was once a Jesuit college until the order was suppressed in 1773. The academy awards degrees from bachelor to doctorate under Italian law. It has three departments covering visual arts, design and communication in art. The academy is recognised for its academic rigour and international reach. Around 3,800 students attend, including about 1,000 from abroad, many at postgraduate level. It takes part in the Erasmus programme and exchanges staff and students with institutions across Europe and beyond. Notable alumni include the Nobel Prize-winning playwright Dario Fo and the Futurist painter Carlo Carrà, who later taught there. Among its professors were Francesco Hayez, a leading 19th-century painter, and Camillo Boito, architect and writer who also served as academy president. The academy also hosts the Contemporary Art Library, one of only 24 worldwide to hold a rare demonology manuscript. Visitors to the academy can explore the historic Palazzo Brera, designed by Francesco Maria Richini. The building still contains traces of its varied past, from the Jesuit college to the Napoleonic-era art gallery. The Pinacoteca di Brera, once part of the academy, remains in the same palace and displays works from the 14th to the 20th centuries. The academy’s departments occupy classrooms and studios where students study painting, sculpture, restoration and new technologies of art. The library holds specialist collections in art history and contemporary practice. The surrounding Brera district is known for its narrow streets, cafés and galleries, offering a lively setting for visitors.