The apartment of Gian Giacomo was created after 1846 in a part of the family palace situated in the corsia del Giardino, whose English-style gardens provided the inspiration for the name of the street (now via Manzoni).
The origin
Following the dictates of historicism, then-avant-garde style, each room of the suite was decorated by the interior designers Giuseppe Bertini (1825-1891) and Luigi Scrosati (1814-1869) to evoke a different style of the past, echoing the historical period of the objects on display.
Unfortunately, in 1943, during the Second World War, a bomb destroyed most of the decoration of the rooms. The original setting is shown in the photographs you can fi nd in each room.
Il Museo Poldi Pezzoli agli inizi della sua storia in un’incisione di Antonio Bonamore (1881) by Antonio BonamoreMuseo Poldi Pezzoli
The Arms Room
The Gothic-style Arms Room created by the scenographer of La Scala theatre, Filippo Peroni, was totally destroyed.
Armeria (2000) by Arnaldo PomodoroMuseo Poldi Pezzoli
The Arms Room today
It was restyled on the groundfloor by the sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro (2000).
Since its reopening after the Second World War, the museum has been enlarged with new rooms to accommodate the numerous works added - whether by acquisition, or donation – after the death of the collector. Today, the visit of the Poldi Pezzoli historical rooms begins with the Neo-Baroque staircase decorated with a fountain by Bertini and 17th century sculptures, and passes upstairs to the Stucco Room’ in Rococò style’ divided from the Golden Room by a display case full of porcelain.
Salone dorato (1890/1900) by AndersonMuseo Poldi Pezzoli
The Golden Room
In the Golden Room are gathered masterpieces of Renaissance painting.
Salone Dorato (2022)Museo Poldi Pezzoli
The Golden Room today
Sala Nera (1872) by Emilio CavenaghiMuseo Poldi Pezzoli
The Black Room
The adjoining Black Room ‘in the Northern Renaissance style,’ once acted as a drawing room, and was decorated with ivory and wood intarsia and semi-precious stone objects.
Sala Nera (2022) by Andrea Livio VolpatoMuseo Poldi Pezzoli
The Black Room today
The artistic journey continues...
The visit continues with the Antique Murano Glass Room formerly the Bedroom, which offers carved wood furniture, and from which one enters the Dante Study, created ‘in the Italian 14th century style’.
These historical and predominantly reception rooms are flanked by four rooms dedicated exclusively to the display of paintings. The apartment lacks a dining room, while the service areas (kitchen and romos for the servants) were on the ground floor.
The Franzini wing
Finally, in 2017 the expansion of the exhibition spaces to an area of 200 square meters allowed the setting up of new rooms for the public to enjoy a greater number of works, including three new collections of decorative arts recently received as a donation.
