We all love shopping at the museum: museum shops are full of artistic, contemporary and classic object to combine shopping and culture.

A new venue has been recently opened in Milan inside Brera Museum: “Bottega Brera”, consisting of 86 square meters full of books and design, with plenty of products exclusively designed for the museum. Bottega Brera is accessible from the main courtyard of Brera building and therefore open to anybody, not just visitors to the Picture Gallery.

But Brera is not just an amazing collection of masterpieces, including paintings by Mantegna, Bellini, Tintoretto, and Caravaggio. Brera, established at the end of the XVIII century, was conceived as a citadel of culture, a temple of Enlightment were science and humanities could live side by side. That is why in the same Brera building you may visit not just the pinacotheca but also an Astonomical Observatory, you will stroll along the regular flowerbeds of a Botanical Garden and you’ll browse through the ancient volumes kept in the Braidense Library.

At Bottega Brera you will find objects reprenting each of such institutions, and even original creations by the students of prestigious Brera Academy of Arts, also housed in this century-old building. Products range from fragrances based on Brera Rose – grown in the Botanical Garden – to Fornasetti tableware created by students of the Academy; from Trussardi limited edition foulards (by the way, Brera custodians wear Trussardi!), to children’s books by Bruno Munari, who opened his first didactic workshop for kids at Brera.

At the end of your visit to the museum and your shopping session at Bottega Brera, treat yourself with a cup of coffee at one of the nice cafès of Brera district. With its streets of cobblestones, fine art galleries, and elegant boutiques, it will be a highlight of your stay in Milan.