During the 15th century the Borromeo family established a widely ramified network of banks with which they were soon represented in all the major European centres of commerce. Between 1439 and 1447 Count Vitaliano I (1391–1449) acquired the fortress of Aroso, which formed the first nucleus of the Borromeo family estates around Lake Maggiore.

Generations later, Carlo Borromeo III (1586–1652) began to landscape the Isola Inferiore (Isola Bella), one of the Borromean Islands in Lake Maggiore, laying out formal gardens to his own designs. Under Vitaliano VI (1620–1690) the island assumed the appearance it still largely has today, with gardens and extensive palatial complexes, making it the most impressive surviving example of a 17th-century Baroque garden in the Italianate style. Nature, architecture and the works of art that grace the rooms of the palaces form a unique and harmoniously arranged ensemble.

The collection of the Principi Borromeo is one of the most important 19th-century aristocratic collections, having been mainly assembled by Prince Gilberto Borromeo V (1751–1837) between 1780 and 1830. The collection was originally open to the public under the name Museo Borromeo in one of the family's city palaces in Milan. During the Second World War it was removed for safekeeping shortly before the palace was destroyed in the aerial bombardment of the city. In 2007/08, following its restoration, the core of the Principi Borromeo Collection, the focus of which is on outstanding works from Renaissance Lombardy, will be exhibited first at the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan, followed by the LIECHTENSTEIN MUSEUM in Vienna and finally on the Borromean Islands.

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