The permanent viewable collection is arranged from room XX to room XXVI, and proposes an itinerary that focuses on Lombard painting from the mid 15th century to the beginnings of neoclassicism. In room XXV and at the end of room XXVI one can find two significant groupings of paintings from the Veneto area, while in room XIX is a small but choice series of 17th century Dutch and Flemish paintings. Within the gallery itinerary, sculpted wooden reliefs, terracotta busts and a collection of medals (Civico Gabinetto Numismatico e Medagliere) come together to suggest the poetry of art expressed through various typologies and materials. The Art Gallery includes large altar pieces, devotional paintings, polyptych and miniatures painted by Lombard masters, often innovators of painting techniques and of a personal interpretation of religious and profane themes. Some names of international fame punctuate the itinerary as do paintings of fundamental importance for art history:  the Madonna Enthroned between Saints initialled by Andrea Mantegna in 1497, Bronzino's portrait of Lorenzo Lenzi circa 1525 and also works by Correggio, Tiziano and Tintoretto portraying the physiognomy of famous personalities.

Painted and fresco cycles

The Art Gallery includes entire painted and frescoed mural cycles salvaged from religious buildings and private palazzi, either destroyed during the war or demolished. A case unto itself is that of the so called ‘camera picta’ (Room XVII), once part of the Castle of Roccabianca (Parma) and bought at an antique market in 1936. It is a graphic document of particular importance, both for the quality of the work and its subject matter. Le storie di Griselda were painted around 1460 by skilled artists from a workshop in the Po valley, who decorated the ceiling with symbols of the zodiac. Another cycle of frescoes, dedicated to the vicissitudes of Saint John the Baptist, faces the Equestrian Monument of Bernabò Visconti (Room II) and was commissioned by the very same Duke half way through the 14th century for the Palatine church of San Giovanni in Conca.  As well as the artefacts in storage, which may  be viewed upon request, the Art Gallery is also promoting the exhibition of groupings of works on the basis of provenance and cultural sphere. These are viewable in some of the city's public estates: Palazzo Morandi, Palazzo Sormani and Palazzo Marino, which houses the Milan town hall. Visiting these exhibits is possible only on particular occasions or on request and pre-booked.