Museo Diocesano ★

The best works from small church museums and treasuries across Milan and Lombardy

Opened in November 2001, this museum brings together the best works from church treasuries across Lombardy, from the Church of Sant'Ambrogio on down, alongside works of religious significance donated from various private collections.

Among the works from the now-defunct Museo di Sant'Ambrogio is an important 10th-century carved wooden tondo of S. Ambrogio.

The Crespi collections include many 14th- and early 15th-century Gothic works by such Tuscan-school masters as Bernardo Daddi, Sano di Pietro, Agnolo Gaddi, Taddeo di Bartolo, Bicci di Lorenzo, and Nardo di Cione.

The giant, excellently preserved 1510 altarpiece of saints by Marco d'Oggiono came from the church of S. Stefano.

Other paintings include works by the prolific 16th-century Campi clan of Cremona, a Tintoretto Christ and the Adulterer, a luminous Crucifixion with Mary Magdalene by Francesco Hayez, many late 15th-century paintings by local boy Il Begognone, 17th- and 18th-century landscapes by Panini, Zuccarelli, and others, and Previati's important Via Crucis cycles from the 1880s.

And what would a church museum be without a passel of 17th-century Flemish tapestries?

There are free audioguides in English, and lots of helpful multimedia panels scattered throughout the museum.

Milan's Museo Diocesano is set just inside the Parco delle Basiliche, a collection of grass-fringed paths, playgrounds, and volleyball courts created just after World War II on the site of Milan's ancient execution grounds.

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