MarteS – Museo d'arte Sorlini

About the museum

The museum houses one of the most important private collections of Veneto and Venetian painting in northern Italy. It was assembled by the Brescian entrepreneur Luciano Sorlini, who began buying works in the 1970s, preferring old art to contemporary art at a time when the international art market was rediscovering Venetian painting. The collections have been open to the public since 2018, the year the museum opened.

The seat is Palazzo Sorlini, a seventeenth-century Brescian building in Calvagese della Riviera. Its main axis runs from the entrance portal across the courtyard, flanked by two barchesse (farm arcades), to the brolo (walled garden), closed by a monumental rusticated arch surmounted by two obelisks.

The route includes more than 180 paintings from the 14th to the 19th century, displayed in rooms devoted to eighteenth-century Venetian painting, to Pietro and Alessandro Longhi, to landscape, to the Baroque, to Giovanni Bellini, to Callisto Piazza da Lodi, to Giacomo Ceruti (known as Il Pitocchetto) and to the Guardi. The museum also includes Sorlini’s studio and an art library with dossiers on the paintings, available on request.

Highlights

• More than 180 Veneto and Venetian paintings from the 14th to the 19th century
• Giovanni Bellini room
• Salone di Diana with a large canvas by Giacomo Ceruti
• Rooms of the Longhi and the Guardi
• Seventeenth-century palazzo with courtyard and brolo
• Art library of Luciano Sorlini

Permanent exhibition

• Collezione Sorlini – More than 180 Veneto and Venetian paintings from the 14th to the 19th century in twelve rooms, including the rooms of Giovanni Bellini, the Longhi, the Guardi and Il Pitocchetto.

Founded

2018

Operated by

Fondazione Luciano Sorlini

Visitors per year

approx. 1,555

Admission & discounts

The ticket is valid for the day and is bought online or at the ticket office. Free admission for tour guides and holders of the Musei Lombardia card. Discount agreements: Navigarda €11, Volontari del Garda €10, Touring Club Italiano €11.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: not available
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The building has architectural barriers that prevent wheelchair users from reaching the first floor; the museum says it is working to remove them. Visitors using crutches or walking frames can reach the rooms safely.

Kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

Children under 10 enter free; there is a reduced ticket for young people aged 10 to 14, and the website offers a “Visita in famiglia” (family visit).

Getting there & parking

From the A4 motorway from Milan, exit at Brescia Est and follow the SS45bis towards Prevalle–Calvagese; from Venice, exit at Desenzano del Garda and follow the provincial roads to Calvagese.

Amenities & dining

• Coat check
• Wi-Fi

Free Wi-Fi, toilets and a cloakroom; the cloakroom is compulsory for backpacks and large bags. Dogs are not admitted.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit