The Museo del Novecento (Museum of the Twentieth Century) is located in the Palazzo dell’Arengario in Piazza del Duomo in Milan. The collection consists of more than four thousand works of twentieth century Italian art. From the building one has a perfect view of the Cathedral.
Museum of the 20th Century Milan
Useful information
Address: Piazza del Duomo, 8 – Milan. Telephone: +39 02 884 440 61. Opening hours: From 10.00 to 19.30. The box office closes at 18.30. Closed: Monday. Admission: 10 Euro; 65+, age 18-25: 8 Euro; age 13-17: 5 Euro; age 0-12: Free. On the first and third Tuesday of the month from 2:00 p.m. the entrance fee is 5 Euros. Public transportation: Metro: Duomo stop (M1, M3); streetcar lines 2, 3, 12, 14, 16, 24, 27 (Duomo stop) or lines 15, 23 (Piazza Fontana stop); bus line 54 (Piazza Diaz stop). The TouristMuseum Card is valid.
History and description
The Palazzo dell’Arengario is a palace consisting of two symmetrical structures. It was built in 1930, during the Fascist regime. The museum has been housed in the building since December 6, 2010.
The permanent collection consists of about 400 works of art and is arranged chronologically. Some artists have their own room in the museum, while other rooms highlight certain artistic movements.
The first room is dedicated to foreign avant-garde artists such as Picasso, Braque, Klee, Kandinsky and Modigliani. This is followed by Futurism, an Italian movement, and the 1920s and 1930s. Famous artists include Umberto Boccioni, Gino Severini, Giorgio De Chirico and Marino Marini. An entire room is dedicated to the latter.
On the third floor are works by Alberto Burri, Emilio Vedova and others. There is also a room dedicated to the artists of the magazine “Azimuth” published in 1959, including Piero Manzoni and Enrico Castellani.
The top floor in the Palazzo dell’Arengario is entirely dedicated to Lucio Fontana. The imposing spiral staircase connecting the floors also ends with a work by this artist (“Structure in Neon”).
At the bottom of this staircase is one of the most famous works in the museum, Pellizza da Volpedo’s “Fourth Empire” (1951).
From the top floor there is an air bridge to the Palazzo Reale, where the exhibition continues. Here the sixties through the eighties are highlighted. One entire room is dedicated to Luciano Fabro. Part of this section is devoted to installations, with works by artists such as Jannis Kounellis.