The Ambrosiana was, is and must remain a source of research, dialogue, knowledge, culture and spirituality, always in the spirit of the motto that Manzoni placed as the ideal seal on Federico Borromeo’s work: ‘A steady intent in the search for and practice of the best.’
The Ambrosian Library, founded by Cardinal Federico Borromeo on 1607 and inaugurated on 1609, was one of the earliest libraries to grant access to all who could read and write. It was conceived by its founder as a centre for study and culture.
Read moreThe Pinacoteca Ambrosiana was established in April 1618, when Cardinal Federico Borromeo donated his collection of paintings, drawings and statues to the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, which he had founded in 1607.
Read moreThe Accademia purpose is to raise the Ambrosiana to the level of an Agora, a place devoted to fostering the dialogue between diverse peoples and heterogeneous
cultures, a crossroads between North and South, East and West.
The program of exhibitions, conferences and meetings of the Library, Pinacoteca and Ambrosiana Academy at your fingertips.
The most magical and ancient places of Milan: the ancient Forum where Constantine, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine and Theodosius walked, and the lower Church of Santo Sepolcro, built by the Crusaders… as well as a colossal statue of St. Charles Borromeo on Lake Maggiore; a Museum-Home at the Sacro Monte of Varese; a Foundation dedicated to the promotion of young artists: this is also the Ambrosiana!
Discover the other institutions of the Ambrosiana
Lodovico Pogliaghi was one of the most significant Lombard artists to live in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The Marco Mantovani Foundation seeks to preserve and enhance the works of the sculptor Marco Mantovani, as evidence of the life of an artist dedicated to sculpture and art.
The Colossus of Saint Charles in Arona, which popular tradition has affectionately dubbed San Carlone, was created in the seventeenth century at the behest of Federico Borromeo, archbishop of Milan and founder of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana.
Between 1990 and 1992, archaeological excavations conducted underneath the ancient cellars of the Ambrosiana brought to light a portion of the pavement of the ancient Roman forum, the heart of Mediolanum's political, economic and religious life.
The church of San Sepolcro was founded in 1030, when a Milanese moneyer named Rozzone built a church on the ancient Roman forum. Archbishop Ariberto d’Intimiano solemnly consecrated it to the Holy Trinity.
