Already the seat, in the Napoleonic era, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, later, of the Ministry of War, the Moriggia palace, which passed in 1900 to the De Marchi family, was donated to the Municipality of Milan by the wife of the celebrated naturalist Marco De Marchi and on that occasion intended as a museum.
Through a complex set of materials composed of prints, paintings, sculptures, drawings, weapons, and memorabilia, the collections illustrate the period of Italian history between the first campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy (1796) and the annexation of Rome to the Kingdom of Italy (1870).
The exhibition route is arranged chronologically and unfolds through fifteen themed rooms, to which two rooms are added for temporary exhibitions. The latest arrangement dates back to 1998 when, maintaining the chronological sequence intact, the permanent display structures were redesigned, intended for the main areas of the collections, and in particular the memorabilia of the coronation of Napoleon in Italy (the green and silver mantle and the precious royal insignia), the banner of the Lombard Legion Mounted Hunters, the first Italian Tricolor, to name just a few.
On this occasion, the lighting system and the didactic equipment were redesigned, and the adjacent “Romantic Little Garden” was restored. Via Borgonuovo, 23, tel 02.88464186
