The history of the famous Accademia Carrara in Bergamo began with the luxurious private collection of the Italian Count Giacomo Carrara, a famous collector and patron of the 18th century. According to his last will, his beloved city received a generous gift, his impressive collection of authentic artworks, which has become available to everyone ever since.

The young architect Simone Elia, a talented student of the legendary Italian architect Leopoldo Pollack, constructed a monumental building at the beginning of the 19th century. The magnificent architectural monument in the classical style has become a tourist attraction in itself, not to mention the priceless collection in its spacious lightened halls.

The museum was named the Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti di Bergamo. Every year, its impressive archive was replenished with new exhibits. In the middle of the 19th century, Count Guglielmo Lochis donated his private collection of paintings to the Accademia, a few years later Senator Giovanni Morelli did the same, and in the 20th century, the art expert and specialist in Italian Renaissance painting Federico Zeri presented his gift. Besides, the museum received two hundred rare paintings as donations, whose owners decided to remain anonymous.

Today, the collection of the Accademia Carrara is home to 1800 works of art, including the masterpiece paintings by such great artists as: the outstanding representatives of the Venetian painting Giovanni Bellini, of the Padua school of painting Andrea Mantegna, of the Florentine school Sandro Botticelli and of the Roman school Raphael, one of the best portraitists of the 16th century Giovanni Battista Moroni, etching master Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, landscape painter Canaletto and artist Giovanni Carnovali.

In addition to works of fine art, the gallery contains lots of drawings, engravings, and sculptures, as well as collections of old coins and antique pieces of furniture. The porcelain exhibition deserves special attention.