The Brera modern art museum will open in Milan this autumn after 52 years of delays and 39 governments

MILAN – O Modern Brera will open in the fall, 52 years and 39 Italian governments after it was first conceived, officials announced Monday.

The new museum, just a few doors down from the Brera Painting Gallery in Milan, will house more than 100 works of contemporary art that belong to the Brera collection, mostly relegated to storage.

The project has suffered several delays, most recently the discovery of asbestos and problems with the conditioning system.

The new museum is expected to officially open on December 7, when the eyes of Europe’s cultural elite are already on Milan for the gala premiere of La Scala’s annual opera season.

The honor goes to Brera’s new director, Angelo Crespi, who took up the role in February as part of the far-right-led government’s moves to put Italians at the helm of important cultural institutions. His predecessor, the British-Canadian historian James Bradburne who pushed to end Modern, completed two four-year terms and was ineligible to continue.

The Brera, founded in 1809, contains masterpieces by Canova, Caravaggio, Raphael and Hayez. The new museum in the nearby Palazzo Citterio has already attracted 30,000 visitors over three weeks for a temporary exhibition. Concerts are planned in the outdoor garden this summer.

Brera, with the addition of Modern, is expected to reach 500,000 visitors this year, up from 466,709 last year and steadily increasing from the pre-pandemic high of around 410,000.