The collections of Museo Vincenzo Vela are comprised of the donation of Villa Vela and all its contents to the Swiss Confederation by painter Spartaco Vela (1854–1895), which was bequeathed in his will in 1892. Preserved in the house-museum located in Ligornetto (Canton of Ticino), they constitute an ensemble which is one of its kind in Switzerland, while few examples compare to it in the rest of Europe.

Among the collections, which comprise approximately 4000 works, most noteworthy is the plaster cast gallery of Vincenzo Vela (1820–1891), which gathers original plaster models of almost all his sculptural works. Beside it, one can admire bozzetti in clay and plaster, in addition to drawings authored by the sculptor. The collection further encompasses a set of plaster and clay works by the sculptor-decorator Lorenzo Vela (1812–1897), as well as numerous oil paintings and sketches by the painter Spartaco Vela.

The three Vela artists also collected contemporary paintings, which were gathered in a gallery at Museo Vincenzo Vela, creating the most extensive record of nineteenth-century Lombard and Piedmontese paintings owned by the Swiss Confederation. Finally, in addition to the graphic collection of more than 500 engravings, the bequest includes an astonishing collection of period photographs. The latter, amounting to approximately a thousand photos, is among the oldest Swiss collections of the kind.

In addition to these core collections, the museum houses works donated by artists who enjoyed monographic exhibitions organised throughout the years.

The presentation of the collection of the Museo Vincenzo Vela on this platform is constantly being expanded.