Palazzo Morando

The Palazzo Morando on Via Sant’Andrea is a historic building in Milan that now serves as a museum of fashion and visual culture. The Casati family acquired the property in the late 16th century, and in the 17th century they decorated two salons with painted coffered ceilings and a frieze of putti dating from 1651. The palace gained its defining character, however, under the Villa family, who owned it from 1733 to 1845. In the 1760s, Giovanni Villa carried out extensive renovations in the Lombard Baroque style, which shape the look of the interiors and exterior today. After the death of the last direct heir, the building passed through various hands until Count and Countess Morando Attendolo Bolognini bought it in 1909. Countess Lydia Morando donated the palace to the city of Milan in 1945. Since then, it has housed the city's collection, which was moved here after the destruction of the Palazzo Sormani, as well as an art collection that belonged to Duchess Eugenia Litta Visconti Arese. Among other highlights, visitors can see a monumental staircase with a Rococo balustrade, the Chinese Gallery with its porcelain, the Sala dell’Olimpo with wedding motifs, the Golden Salon, the Egyptian Hall with its mosaic floor, the Hercules Hall with its ceiling fresco, and the Gallery of Busts.