The Caffè Fernanda is part of a larger project to redesign the Pinacoteca di Brera and its collection. It is named after Fernanda Wittgens, the gallery's visionary director, who was responsible for its reopening in 1950, after the terrible bombings of '43.

Located in the former main entrance, the café is conceived as part and parcel of the museum tour. More precisely, it echoes the new curation of the museum's 38 rooms by director James Bradburne, carried outover the past 3 years. Hence, the project's chromatic and material coherence with the gallery's new layout, and its reinterpretation of the space's 1950s architecture.

The intense petrol blue of the walls chimes with the warm hues of the gallery rooms and sets off the artworks exhibited in the Café:PietroDamini's St. Bernard Converting the Duke of Aquitania, Bertel Thorvaldsen's The Three Graces, the bust of Fernanda Wittgens by Marino Marini and her portraitby Attilio Rossi.

Adjustable LED projectors, mounted on rails that mimic the pattern of the pre-existent plaster beams, are the sole source of light, as befits the environment and the works.

Recovered and restored, the splendid,peach-blossom marble floors and the Lepanto-red frames - prominent features of Piero Portaluppi's previous design - remain untouched.

Below Damini's seventeenth-century painting stands the café's large, round-edged bar. Its design evokes ribbed wooden furniture from the '50s, albeit with inverted proportions:enlarged, semi-circular strips of canaletto walnut, topped by an uncharacteristically thin, antique-brass surface.

The same brass, thinned even further, frames the large mirror, in which not only the bar's bottles, but fragments of Thordvalsen's Cupid and the Three Graces are reflected.

The tables, too, are made of brass and walnut. A certain material coherence guarantees the space its harmony, allowing for an unencumbered appreciation of the works.

Lounging in the antique-pink and brass armchairs,one can admire Marini's bust, whilst the tables by the baroffer a privileged view of both Attilio Rossi's portrait and Francesco Hayez's famous Kiss, located in the final room of the gallery.

Pedrali furnishings in the new cafeteria of the Pinacoteca di Brera

A grand opening, rich of history, in one of the most characteristic districts of Milan. On October 1st, inside the Pinacoteca di Brera, there was the inauguration of the Caffè Fernanda, which pays tribute with its name to the gallery’s visionary director Fernanda Wittgens, the first woman to run a national museum in Italy and thanks to whom the Pinacoteca reopened in 1950, after the terrible bombings of 1943.

The cafeteria and bistrot, whose gastronomic proposal is curated by the chef Filippo Lamantia, is part of the museum itinerary with its new setting consisting of 38 rooms realized by the director James Bradburne. The interior design project, by the Milanese studio rgastudio, is focused on both chromatic and material coherence thanks to the gallery’s new layout, and on a reinterpretation of the 1950s architecture of the location. The intense peacock blue colour chosen for the walls accentuates the great artworks exhibited in the Cafè: Pietro Damini's St. Bernard Converting the Duke of Aquitania, Bertel Thorvaldsen's The Three Graces, the bust of Fernanda Wittgens by Marino Marini and her portrait by Attilio Rossi. The wonderful peach-blossom marble floors and the Lepanto-red frames, prominent features of Piero Portaluppi’s previous design, have been recovered and restored. Below Damini’s seventeenth-century painting stands the large, round-edged bar, which recalls the furniture of the fifties in ribbed wood, albeit with inverted proportions, made of large semi-circular strips of canaletto wood and with a thin, antique brass top with rounded ends.

In this unique and suggestive atmosphere, Pedrali furnishings enhance the refinement of the room without interfering with the artworks. One wall of the cafeteria is completely furnished with Modus modular seating combined with the elegance of Jazz armchairs, with powder pink simil leather upholstery and steel frame antique brass finish, the same chosen for Inox tables with walnut top. In the middle of the room Nym armchairs, with the solid ash wood backrest that designs an uninterrupted arch, and Nemea chairs and armchairs, which combine the ash-wood with a die-cast aluminum frame, welcome guests who can relax sipping a drink while admiring Francesco Hayez’s famous Kiss, located in the final room of the galley. The cafeteria also has an outdoor area, overlooking the courtyard, protected by the porch: here the Nolita chairs and tables, entirely made of steel to ensure maximum solidity and durability, allow the visitor to experience moments of conviviality in the open air. That being said, Caffè Fernanda is fully qualified to become the new Milanese social gathering salon.