The 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.

The Ambrosian Library, founded by Cardinal Federico Borromeo on September 7, 1607 and inaugurated on 8 December 1609, was one of the earliest libraries to grant access to all who could read and write.

The purpose of the Accademia 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.