In 1883, the brothers Fausto and Giuseppe Bagatti Valsecchi inaugurated the new facade of their palazzo, set between Via Santo Spirito and Via Gesù. Their plan was to convert it into a residence, inspired by the homes of the 16th-century Lombard aristocracy. The house was furnished with Renaissance artefacts, and each room was embellished with household items, the finest quality furnishings and art works. In the interiors, conceived as a place to live in, the centuries-old art displays were put into everyday use. The Valsecchi brothers did not intend to produce a museum, but to reconstruct an elegant dwelling place of the mid-1500s with all sorts of 15th- and 16th-century objects. Renaissance paintings, such as Christ the Redeemer by Giampietrino and Madonna and Child by Ambrogio Bevilacqua hung in the house, along with beautifully crafted furnishings, including 15th-century cassoni and trunks from punched leather; Flemish tapestries; cabinets of miscellaneous shapes and sizes; as well as valuable wooden tables and chairs with intarsia, a form of wood inlay similar to marquetry, which involves veneer forming decorative patterns.

The Bagatti Valsecchi operates as a private foundation which has been open to the public since 1994, revealing interiors embellished by outstanding Renaissance collections of paintings, wood carvings and furnishings, as well as ceramic, Venetian crystal glass wares, artifacts in gold and ivory, metal objects and tapestries. The museum’s permanent collections also comprise Italian Renaissance Decorative Arts, featuring maiolica wares from prestigious Italian factories, furniture, leather and table-top ivory coffers (stucco and pastiglia), as well as a series of sculptures, such as the 'Madonna and Child' by a follower of Donatello. The site also showcases European Renaissance weapons, armory and clocks, as well as a few textiles, scientific and musical instruments. The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum holds an impressive ensemble of Italian Renaissance paintings, a few being from the 14th and 17th Centuries, but most dating back to the 15th or 16th Century. The museum also serves as a research centre, organising courses, seminars and conferences.

Among the displayed art, including the 1475 'St Giustina de’ Borromeis' by Giovanni Bellini, the 1470 'Beatified Lorenzo Giustiniani' by Gentile Bellini, in original frame, and the 1540 'Christ in Majesty', 'Virgin, Christ Child and Saints' by Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli (Giampietrino). The 1507 pieces 'St Francis' and 'St John the Baptist' were the work of Bernardo Zenale, an artist inspired by Leonardo da Vinci. Other notables are 'St Mary Magdalen' and 'The Prophet Isaiah' by Lorenzo di Niccolò, who worked in Florence between 1391 and 1412. The latter work is originally found in the Medici Chapel of Florence’s Santa Croce. The four 1640 allegorical figures by Andrea Lilio is also on display in the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum.