Palazzo Marliani-Cicogna, in Busto Arsizio, houses the Civiche Raccolte d'Arte, which together with the Museo del Tessile e della Tradizione Industriale make up the city's civic museums. It was the home of the Marliani counts, lords of the fief of Busto Arsizio between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.
What to see
In 1624 Count Luigi Marliani bought a rural house which was turned into a palace before 1653; in a ground-floor room a stretch of the paving of the rustic courtyard is still preserved. In the eighteenth century the two wings were lengthened and joined by a curved façade, and wooden ceilings with a frescoed band were made inside. Count Francesco Leopoldo Cicogna Mozzoni, who had married Teresa Marliani, bought the palace in 1799; passed later to the community of Busto Arsizio, it gained in 1851 a new wing for a prison, finished in 1855.
Since 1990 the building has been a museum, with works from the sixteenth century to today arranged by period and style. There is devotional art, with the Assumption of the Virgin by Gaudenzio Ferrari; the gift of don Marco Rossi, with the Portrait of Francesco Bonaventura Cavalieri by Giacomo Cavedoni and paintings by Nuvolone and Morazzone; a section on the two Busto artists Biagio Bellotti and Giuseppe Bossi, including the Portrait of Alessandro Volta at sixty; for the nineteenth century the Portrait of Count Ambrogio Nava by Francesco Hayez, on deposit from the Brera Academy, and the Popolana by Giacomo Favretto; then Arturo Tosi, local artists and contemporary art.
Visiting
Note: according to the sources consulted the museum closed in January 2026 for renovation, except for the temporary exhibition spaces, with reopening expected in 2027. Before going, check with the Comune or the museum on the state of the works, opening hours and current exhibitions. Guided visits and workshops for groups and school classes are offered by booking.
Our editors' tip
In the museum's Art Library you can consult many specialist volumes on art history and on local art: useful if you want to look further into Bellotti and Bossi. The museum also holds the quality mark of the Regione Lombardia.
