Museo Francesco Borgogna Museum

The Museo Francesco Borgogna is an art museum in Vercelli, Piedmont, founded on the collecting activities of the Borgogna family. It preserves paintings, sculptures and decorative arts spanning several centuries, with a focus on Italian works.

Galleries are arranged within a historic palazzo and present regional and Italian school paintings alongside sculpture and applied arts. The museum’s holdings illustrate local patronage and collecting practices in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The collection was formed through the donations and bequests of the Borgogna family and has been displayed in the civic museum spaces in Vercelli since the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The museum sits in the centre of Vercelli, within walking distance of the cathedral and the city’s main historic streets.

Biella is served by regional train and bus connections from Turin and Milan. The museum is in the historic center; from Biella San Paolo station it’s a short taxi ride or a 20-30 minute walk uphill through town. Driving via the A4/E64 and provincial roads is common for visitors from Turin.

• Look for temporary exhibitions; the museum's late-19th/early-20th-century collecting habits produced surprising acquisitions.
• The building itself is worth study-its 19th-century layout reflects collecting practices of the era.
• Ask at reception about access to the study rooms if researching specific works; the staff are often helpful with provenance questions.