Founded in Milan in 1881, the Poldi Pezzoli Museum houses the extensive collection of an aristocratic art collector. Nobleman Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli (1822-1879) devoted his life to decorating his home with artworks of the Renaissance, amassing around 3,000 pieces, including paintings by Botticelli, Piero della Francesca and Piero del Pollaiolo, as well as porcelain works, Murano glass and other decorative items. Now a residential museum, his home has become an important display and reflection of Milanese 19th-century high-society taste.
This is the first time that works from the Poldi Pezzoli Museum are being shown in Japan, and the exhibition, which charts European art from the Renaissance to the 19th century, includes Piero del Pollaiolo's masterpiece "Portrait of a Woman"; April 4-May 25.
Bunkamura the Museum; 2-24-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. Shibuya Stn. 10 a.m.- 7 p.m. (Fri., Sat. till 9 p.m.). ¥1,500. 03-5777-8600; www.bunkamura.co.jp/english
