Photo: FSosio · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Pinacoteca Civica di Como

Civic picture gallery in the seventeenth-century Palazzo Volpi in Como, with art from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century, the portraits of Paolo Giovio and the drawings of Sant'Elia.

Opening hoursAdmission €6

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About the museum

The Pinacoteca is housed in Palazzo Volpi, in the south-western area of the walled city. It was built in the third decade of the seventeenth century on the initiative of Ulpiano Volpi, a churchman of the Roman Curia; the design, sent from Rome, is by Sergio Venturi. The austere building, with a rusticated portal and a Roman-style loggia facing the courtyard, was the noble residence of the Volpi and then of the Canarisi families until the mid-nineteenth century, when the State bought it to make it the seat of the court. Transferred to the Comune di Como in the 1970s, it was renovated to become a museum.

The new seat was inaugurated in 1989 with three exhibitions devoted to fourteenth-century painting in Como, to seventeenth-century art of the Lake Como area and to the Como Abstractionists of the twentieth century. This marked the expansion of the Musei Civici: the art collections previously kept in Palazzo Giovio and Palazzo Olginati were moved here. In 1992 sliding racks in the storerooms made it possible to bring the rest of the picture gallery here. In the following years the other sections were set up, with the Quadreria completed in 2007, the twentieth-century section in 2013 and the Renaissance section in 2015.

The collection, formed from bequests, donations and purchases, documents the art of the area from the Middle Ages to the contemporary. Its focal points are the sixteenth-century collection of portraits of Illustrious Men by Paolo Giovio, the drawings of the Futurist architect Antonio Sant'Elia, and some of the most significant works of the Gruppo Como, the twentieth-century Como Abstractionists.

Highlights

Sixteenth-century collection of portraits of Illustrious Men by Paolo Giovio
Drawings by the Futurist architect Antonio Sant'Elia
Works of the Gruppo Como, the twentieth-century Como Abstractionists
Medieval, Renaissance, Quadreria and twentieth-century sections
Seventeenth-century palace with Roman-style loggia and “Campo quadro”

Permanent exhibition

Collezione permanente della Pinacoteca Civica – Medieval, Renaissance, Quadreria (seventeenth-century, Baroque and eighteenth-century) and twentieth-century sections, from the Futurism of Antonio Sant'Elia to contemporary art, plus the “Campo quadro” space for a single work.

Founded: 1989
Operated by: Comune di Como
Visitors per year: approx. 10,647

Admission & discounts

Adults	€6
Reduced	€3minors aged 6 to 18 and school groups (€3); over-65s, Como residents, university students and adult groups of at least 15 people (€4)
Children & teens	€3free up to age 5 · Reduced rate for children aged 6 to 18; free admission under 6.
Seniors	€4Reduced rate for over-65s.
Visitors with disabilities	freecompanion free · Free admission for people with disabilities and one companion.
Students & apprentices	€4Reduced rate for university students.
Groups (15+ people)	€4 per personReduced rate for groups of adults of at least 15 people; €3 for school groups.
Families	€15Como Family Pass: one family unit with at most two adults.

Free admission: International Museum Day (in 2026 free admission on Sunday 17 May), FAMU – National Family Day at the Museum (12 October) and the feast day of the city's patron saint (31 August).

Free admission also for one teacher for every 15 pupils, journalists and tourist guides with ID card, ICOM members and holders of the Abbonamento Musei Lombardia. For residents of Como and the province there is the CoMmUnity card, valid for 365 days, with unlimited access to the Pinacoteca civica, the Tempio Voltiano and the Cathedral. The Como Art pass allows visits to the three sites within 72 hours. Tickets are bought at the ticket desk (cash or card) or online.