Napoleon's Early Art Thefts in Italy

One of the first collections in Milan to receive a visit from the French art commissioners was the Bibliotheca Ambrosiana, a public and therefore well-known collection. On 19 May, and again on 10 and 25 June, the commissioners marched through the doors of the lavishly decorated museum singling out the most precious works of art.

They didn’t complain about the collection’s inadequate catalogue though, which so many contemporary scholars journeying to the Ambrosiana from all over Europe were in the habit of doing. No, they were more than happy with their findings. Less happy was the prefect of the Ambrosiana, Gaetano Bugati, careful to list all the items requisitioned. These amounted to 12 paintings including five by Breughel and one by Rubens, 20 drawings including Raphael’s School of Athens, 12 manuscripts by Leonardo de Vinci, several incunabula and six assorted items.

The foundation of the Ambrosiana art gallery can be dated back to Cardinal Federico Borromeo's project at the beginning of the 17th century to add a gallery of paintings and statues to the newly formed Bibliotheca Ambrosiana in the belief that religious art had high educational and devotional value. A patron of the arts, Borromeo commissioned Paul Brill and Jan Breughel to produce works that would become the core of the Ambrosiana project in 1607.

Over the years, Borromeo donated many priceless works to the gallery and it should therefore come as no surprise that one of the first art collections to be raided by the French commissioners in 1796 was the Ambrosiana. Tinet, the French commissioner, hand-picked several masterpieces, some of which were returned to the gallery after the downfall of Napoleon in 1815: Raphael’s School of Athens, originally purchased by Borromeo, Leonardo de Vinci’s Codice Atlantico, Jan Breughel’s Allegoria dell'acqua and Allegoria del fuoco, originally commissioned by Borromeo (two other works by Breughel were never returned), and Bernadino Luini’s Madonna and John the Baptist.

Works never returned include Vergil’s manuscript Bucoliva illustrated by Simone Martini, several 6 th century manuscripts, and Flavius Jesephus’ History of the Jewish Wars. In 1815 the Austrian governor sent Baron von Offenfeld to Paris to retrieve the works of art stolen from Lombardy. He managed, for example, to recover Leonardo da Vinci’s Codice Atlantico, which had been kept in the National Library, but what he didn’t know was that other manuscripts by de Vinci were kept the Institut de France.

The Museum: Despite the missing works of art, the Ambrosiana is a very impressive museum by any standard. Even without these many works of art the museum is worth a visit thanks to the lavishly decorated rooms. One of the first works of art that one notices when climbing the steps to the first galleries is the copy of the Laocoon located on the staircase; the original was requisitioned from the Pope. A reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s Codice Atlantico is on display in the first room. Too fragile to exhibit, the originals are stored in the museum’s vaults. Considering the importance of the work it is easy to see why the French commissioners chose Raphael’s School of Athens. However, their decision is less understandable if one considers the size and fragility of the work. Measuring 285x804 cm, transportation dictated that it was folded or rolled up.

The museum also has several Napoleonic artefacts on display, including miniatures and Napoleon’s white gloves worn during the Battle of Waterloo (1815). Also of Napoleonic interest is Appiani's 1805 portrait of Napoleon, the Napoleon I, King of Italy.

Location: 2, Piazza Pio XI. Opening hours: Tue-Sun 10am-5.30pm.

Santa Maria delle Grazie - famous for Leonardo de Vinci’s The Last Supper - was just as ill fated as the Ambrosiana. It wasn’t de Vinci’s masterpiece that the French commissioners were after though, but Titian’s work Crowning of Christ with Thorns (1570). Why wasn’t The Last Supper requisitioned? It would have been much more difficult to remove a fresco than an altarpiece. Add to that that more than two centuries of humidity had severely damaged the work and we understand why the art commissioner Tinet left it alone. When the church was converted into a stable, the fresco suffered even more: soldiers, whether in an act of iconoclasm or simply just a result of boredom, pelted the disciples with mud. Location: Piazza Santa Maria delle Grazie. Open to the public.