5 Best Sights in Milan, Italy

Elaborately decorated with painted ceilings and grand staircases, this former royal palace close to the Duomo is almost worth a visit in itself; however, it also functions as one of Milan's major art galleries, with a focus on modern artists. Exhibitions have highlighted works by Picasso, Chagall, Warhol, Pollock, and Kandinsky. Check the website before you visit to see what's on; purchase tickets online in advance to save time in the queues, which are often long and chaotic.

The collection here is star-studded even by Italian standards. Highlights include the somber Cristo Morto (Dead Christ) by Mantegna, which dominates Room VI with its sparse palette of umber and its foreshortened perspective, Raphael's (1483–1520) Sposalizio della Vergine (Marriage of the Virgin) and La Vergine con il Bambino e Santi (Madonna with Child and Saints), by Piero della Francesca (1420–92), an altarpiece commissioned by Federico da Montefeltro (shown kneeling, in full armor, before the Virgin).

Ascend a Guggenheim-esque spiral walkway to reach the modern works at this petite yet dense collection of Italian contemporary art, adjacent to the Duomo. The museum highlights 20th-century Italian artists, including a strong showing of Futurists, like Boccioni and Severini, and sculptures from Marini, along with a smattering of works by other European artists, including Picasso, Braque, and Matisse.

This exceptional museum, opened in 1881, was once a private residence and collection, and contains not only pedigreed paintings but also porcelain, textiles, and a cabinet with scenes from Dante's life. The gem is undoubtedly Portrait of a Lady, by Piero del Pollaiolo (1431–98), one of the city's most prized treasures and the source of the museum's logo. The collection also includes masterpieces by Botticelli (1445–1510), Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506), Giovanni Bellini (1430–1516), and Fra Filippo Lippi (1406–69).

Cardinal Federico Borromeo, one of Milan's native saints, founded this picture gallery in 1618 with the addition of his personal art collection to a bequest of books to Italy's first public library. The core works of the collection include such treasures as Caravaggio's Basket of Fruit, Raphael's monumental preparatory drawing (known as a "cartoon") for The School of Athens, which hangs in the Vatican, and Leonardo da Vinci's Portrait of a Musician. The highlight for many is Leonardo's Codex Atlanticus, which features thousands of his sketches and drawings.