Palazzo Arese Borromeo

The current Arese Borromeo Palace arose at the behest of Bartholomew III Arese (1610-1674), a key figure in 17th century Lombard politics under Spanish rule. During his influential career, he held high-level positions such as President of the Milan Senate e President of the Consejo de Italia; Moreover, through a strategic network of arranged marriages, he placed himself at the head of a powerful alliance of the leading Milanese noble families, including the Borromeo, the Omodei and the Viscounts of Brebbia.

A man of refined culture, Bartholomew III imprinted his intellectual vision on the entire Cesano Maderno complex, charging it with profound symbolic meanings. Thanks to the fact that the mansion remained the property of the Borromeo Arese - until the acquisition by the Municipality of Cesano Maderno in 1987 -, the building has retained its original 17th-century splendour almost intact.

The palace boasts an extraordinary pictorial heritage that runs along 33 frescoed rooms (an extension even greater than that of the famous Isola Bella). The paintings bear the signature of the greatest exponents of the Milanese classicism: from Ercole Procaccini the Younger at Montalto brothers, from Antonio Busca e Giuseppe Nuvolone until Federico Bianchi, with the spectacular architectural squares of Giovanni Ghisolfi.