Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli and the decorative arts

Abstract This article focuses on the abandoned project for a Museo d'Arte Industriale in Milan, conceived by the Associazione degli Industriali. Although the project was never accomplished, it eventually led to the creation of the Museo Artistico Municipale in 1878. At the time, the Associazione degli Industriali of which Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli was a member, was trying to establish a network of international relationships with museums and cultural institutions such as the South Kensington Museum in London, in order to emulate them in creating a modern museum where their private collections would eventually find a home. This paper sets out the cultural and artistic background in which Poldi Pezzoli and other Milanese noblemen and collectors operated, and in which they tried to transform their private and historical collections into new public museums.