FOR FAMILIES

60 minutes

For all Age

This self-guided tour for families with children takes just over an hour and, in addition to the essential masterpieces, includes a selection of works where nature and animals are particularly prominent.

Starting from Room 1 we will discover Titian’s Adoration of the Magi, with the splendid horse and the famous dog peeing right in the middle of the scene.
Then, look at the Basket of Fruit by Caravaggio. Can you spot the last little animal? “Little animal? But all I can see are figs, apples, peaches… Where’s the animal?” “Oh no, try harder! Look carefully: you can’t see it, but it’s there!”

SALA 1 | Adorazione dei Magi di Tiziano

In Room 2 we pause in front of the majestic altarpiece by Bergognone: what animal can you spot in the bottom left-hand corner and who is it next to?

SALA 2 | Sacra Conversazione del Bergognone

We continue to Room 3, where we are immediately struck by a huge frog lying at the feet an Angel in a painting by Bramantino. What is it doing there? Why is it sprawls on the ground?

SALA 3 | Madonna delle Torri di Bramantino

In Room 4, a wonderful painting by Bassano presents the Holy Family during the Rest on the Flight into Egypt, set in a scene of simple everyday rural life in the 16th-century. The silent companions of the figures are the donkey and the two dogs at the bottom right… But there is another small animal hiding in the picture. Can you see it?

SALA 4 | Riposo durante la fuga in Egitto, Jacopo da Ponte detto il Bassano

After an unmissable visit to the newly restored Cartoon for the School of Athens by Raphael with its new installation, we continue in Room 7, where nature explodes in a blaze of colours, details and… different kinds of animals!
Can you tell how many types of birds and fish are painted in Brueghel’s Allegory of Water, or see the small insects hidden in the Vases of Flowers? Finally, look at the smallest picture of all. Like Cardinal Federico, you will certainly agree that the mastery of a great artist can make even mice look enchanting!

SALA 7 | I fiamminghi

If you are still not tired, go up to the second floor, where you will see, in Room 14, a singular wedding procession. In it the nymph Thetis approaches her spouse Peleus in a sea coach driven by cute cherubs and drawn by two enchanting dolphins!

SALA 14 | Trionfo di Galatea, Ambito di Francesco Albani

After passing through the open gallery, in Room 17 you will see two very charming paintings, in which the Milanese painter Francesco Londonio enjoyed himself portraying goats, lambs, calves and oxen.

SALA 17 | Caprette e agnelli di Londonio

In the passage leading to Room 18, on the landing, a splendid sculpture depicts a Tiger Nursing its Cubs will transport you to exotic and distant lands. Now look at the gilt bronzes in Room 18. Among them you will see two very special centrepieces depicting hares and crustaceans very skilfully carved.

Then, go to the ground floor to immerse yourself in the Aula Leonardi. Here you can admire his Portrait of a Musician (which for some time was even raised to the rank of a Duke!) and the stylish Lady with the Pearl Hair Net!

Finally, in the Sala Federiciana, you can admire the drawings of Leonardo’s Codex Atlanticus.

WHAT’S ON

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Reading room closed from July 21 to August 31 included

08/07/2025

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Ambrosiana

The History of Italy – Ancient Rome illustrated by Lodovico Pogliaghi

02/07/2025-28/10/2025

Exhibition

Pinacoteca

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12/06/2025

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Natura morta<br>Jago and Caravaggio: two views on the transience of life

Pinacoteca

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08/05/2025-04/11/2025

Exhibition

The other faces of the Ambrosiana

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

THE OTHER INSTITUTIONS

THE COLOSSUS OF SAINT CHARLES IN ARONA

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.

THE OTHER INSTITUTIONS

LODOVICO POGLIAGHI MUSEUM-HOME

Lodovico Pogliaghi was one of the most significant Lombard artists to live in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

THE OTHER INSTITUTIONS

MARCO MANTOVANI FOUNDATION

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 OTHER INSTITUTIONS

CHURCH OF SAN SEPOLCRO

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.

THE OTHER INSTITUTIONS

ROMAN FORUM

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.