Casa Museo Lodovico Pogliaghi

The Lodovico Pogliaghi House Museum stands beside the upper end of the chapel avenue at Varese's Sacro Monte. The artist designed it as a home, studio and setting for a wide-ranging collection of art and antiquities.

Why it matters

The house brings Pogliaghi's own work into conversation with the objects he collected. Its eclectic architecture reflects an approach to art that crossed periods, materials and geographical traditions.

What to notice

The original plaster model of Milan Cathedral's principal door connects the house with Pogliaghi's best-known public commission. Other working materials include sketches, plaster studies and drawings. Egyptian, Etruscan and Greco-Roman antiquities share the collection with Renaissance and baroque art, European and Asian textiles and historic furnishings.

Context and history

Pogliaghi became attached to the Sacro Monte while restoring its chapels. From 1885 he acquired neighbouring plots and gradually developed the villa to his own design. The property, now belonging to Milan's Biblioteca Ambrosiana, first opened as a museum in 1974. Following a later closure, it reopened in May 2014, preserving the relationship between domestic surroundings, artistic practice and collecting.