Napoleon Bonaparte, whose bronze statue dominates the building's courtyard in front of the entrance, used this former Jesuit residence as a storehouse for the many works of art confiscated around northern Italy.

An example of art collected by the State, it brings together some of the greatest masterpieces of Renaissance art, such as the Pietà by Giovanni Bellini, the Lamentation of Christ by Andrea Mantegna, the Marriage of the Virgin by Raphael, and the Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio, to name just a few.

With hundreds of paintings from the middle ages to modern times, the collection also boasts significant contributions from Flemish art as well as some of the best artists in Italian painting at the turn of the twentieth century.