Antique Furniture & Wooden Sculpture Museum, Furniture and sculpture museum in Sforza Castle, Milan, Italy.
The Antique Furniture & Wooden Sculpture Museum occupies the first floor of the ducal courtyard of Sforza Castle, beside the picture gallery rooms. Its itinerary runs chronologically from the 14th century to the present, with emphasis on Lombard and Italian furniture. Highlights include the Chamber of Griselda, rebuilt with 15th-century detached frescoes from Roccabianca Castle near Parma, and cabinets by Giuseppe Maggiolini.
The museum opened on 10 May 1900 as the Museo Artistico Municipale, after restoration of Sforza Castle. Its core came from the Mora family of Bergamasque cabinetmakers, whose collection was bought in 1908; later additions include the Durini inheritance, the furnishings of Palazzo Sormani Andreani (1930), the Boschi Di Stefano bequest and furniture deposited from the Savoy residences of Palazzo Reale and the royal villas of Milan and Monza.
The collection reflects the tastes of Milan's upper classes through pieces by renowned designers like Giuseppe Maggiolini and Carlo Bugatti across different periods. You can see how wealthy families expressed their status and refined taste through the objects they chose for their homes.
The museum is located in a wing of Sforza Castle in central Milan and is easily reached on foot from the city center. Admission is included in the castle's general ticket, allowing you to explore multiple collections during a single visit.
The museum holds the largest existing collection of works by cabinetmaker Giuseppe Maggiolini, who built his reputation at the Milanese court of Archduke Ferdinand of Habsburg-Este. Among the pieces are an early chest of drawers with rococo volutes and a palisander and marble commode with an allegorical figure by court painter Andrea Appiani.
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