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The tour starts at the Sforza Castel, Castello Sforzesco.
CASTELLO
Take the Metro Red Line and go to Largo Cairoli.
The castle dates from the renaissance period and was built in the 14 century by Galeazzo Visconti II as a defensive structure.
From 1482 to 1499 Leonardo da Vinci worked at the Castle in Milan under the Duke Ludovico, called “il Moro”. Leonardo designed court festivals and created many of sketches in the in the reign house. In the 17 years of his work for the Duke Leonardo completed important paintings: Last Supper, Virgin of the Rocks.
The Sforza Castel houses museums and behind the castle there's the Castle Park Parco Sempione.
Via Dante
Across Piazza Castello and Largo Cairoli with the monument of Giuseppe Garibaldi you reach Via Dante, a large shopping mall and pedestrian zone.
Piazza dei Mercanti
- At the square where in the Middle Ages still grass and trees grew, began in 1228 the works for the Justice Palace.
In the past in Via Mercanti lawyers offered on the street their services for few money, surrounded by craftsmen, shoemakers, seamstresses, weavers, tailors and bakers, that populated Piazza dei Mercanti.
When it happened that a retailer fell in disgrace, so he had to pull down his pants and to sit on the Stone of the Frustrated to be ridiculous by the mob before he was shut up into prison.
Passing the Piazza dei Mercanti a wide view opens to the majestic Milan Cathedral in Piazza del Duomo.
Milan's Cathedral Duomo
The majestic Dome construction Santa Maria Nascente in white marble of about 157 m length, 93 m wide and 108 metres height is the third largest Catholic Church in the world.
On the left side of the cathedral's back part there are lifts and stairs to the terraces of the roof. From the roof of the Cathedral Duomo you have a breathtaking view over Milan and with a little luck you can see the Northern Italian and Switzerland Alps.
On the top of the roof shines the Golden Madonnina, a copper plate statue that is placed upon the Tiburio in 108 metres height. In 1769 the Madonnina has become the symbol of the Milan.
Palazzo Reale in Piazzetta Duomo
- The former government palace, the Palazzo Reale, has become an exhibitions palace.
Passing Piazza del Duomo you reach the famous Vittorio Emanuele II Gallery the lounge of Milan. The prestigious gallery is a place for shopping in the luxurious boutiques. Crossing the Gallery you arrive in the Scala Square, Piazza delle Scala.
Second part of the walking tour through Milan
Milan, like the other great capitals worldover, is not just art and history. Milan too has fashionable streets where "in" people flock to shop and meet. Via Montenapoleone, one of Milan's most elegant thoroughfares, is lined with luxurius boutiques, antique shops, tearooms and cafes. All along the street are the ateliers of the top Milanese designers. Not surprisingly, Milan now ranks as one of Europe's fashion capitals, just like Paris, Rome and Florence.
The castle, which is one of the greatest monuments of the Renaissance period, was started in the 14th century, when Galeazzo II Visconti ordered building to begin on a stronghold. It was then extended by his successors, Gian Galeazzo, Giovanni Maria and finally by Filippo Maria, who had it altered and improved with the help of the architect Filippo Brunelleschi, as he wished it to be used as the permanent residence of the Visconti dynasty. After the death of Duke Filippo Maria (1447) the stronghold was sacked by the Ambrosian Republic which had taken over the government of the city.
In 1450, the soldier of fortune Francesco Sforza, after the fall of the republic, took possession of the stronghold. He began the reconstruction with the intention of creating a fortification for his own defence but it was gradually transformed into an architecturally impressive noble residence. To start with, the work was entrusted to Giovanni da Milano with the assistance of Filippo Scorzioli and in 1451 the direction of the works passed to Jacopo da Cortona. In 1452 the Prince engaged the Florentine architect Filarete to construct and decorate the middle tower of the castle which however was begun two years later, when work on the building under the direction of Bartolomeo Gadio da Cremona resumed. After the death of Francesco Sforza (1466) his son Galeazzo Maria succeeded him and had the work continued under the architect Benedetto Ferrigni, also from Florence, to whom we owe the loggia, the great staircase of honour, the portico of the Elephant, the chapel and the rear end of the Rocchetta. The decoration was entrusted to painters of the Dukedom. Under the regency of Bona di Savoia, the tower was built to which she gave her name (1476). With the rise to power of Ludovico il Moro the fourth son of Francesco Sforza, the castle became one of the most splendid residences, decorated by Bramante, the great Leonardo da Vinci and numerous other artists summoned to work there.
After Ludovico il Moro's fall (1499), the magnificent palace was occupied by the French forces commanded by marshal Gian Giacomo Trivulzio and the beginning of the destruction of the splendid castle commenced. In 1521, a gun powder explosion caused the destruction of the central tower built by Filarete. During the Spanish domination (16th-17th century) the castle underwent further transformation and addition of buildings, becoming a military fortress. Charles V had a new rampart built which connected it to the new walls of the city. At the end of the 16th century the stronghold was surrounded by six bulwarks. At the beginning of the 17th century the moat was put in order and the covered road along the external border, and six detached ravelins were built. In 1800, Napoleon demolished the Spanish additions and only the original Sforza Castle was left standing. With the join of the Lombardy to the Regno di Sardegna, the old castle became a barracks and in 1880 was sentenced to complete destruction. During the following years, however, a large number of citizens and the interest of the Lombard Historical Society foiled all attempts in this direction, so much so that in 1893 the architect Luca Beltrami, who had already put forward a project, began a radical reconstruction. In the three nuclei of the historical building - the Parade Ground, the Rocchetta and the Ducal Court - he sited the Civic Institute for Art and History. Although it was damaged once more during the last war, the Sforza Castle was restored and became a museum.
The Castle exterior
In the middle of the façade with its front towards the centre of city rises the so-called Filarete Tower (called also the Clock Tower) which is 70 metres high. It was reconstructed at the beginning of the 20th century by the architect Luca Beltrami, and was given back the appearance it had before the destruction of 1561. It's quadrangular in shape with two upper storeys, each one narrower than the lower, culminating in a small cupola. Above the great door is a bas-relief by Luigi Secchi representing King Umberto I on horseback (1916). Higher-up, under the first battlements is St. Ambrose amidst the coats of the arms of the six Sforza dukes. Six magnificently ornamented and richly decorated marble and brick mullioned windows are set into the powerfully structured front walls of the castle, which stretch out left and right from the central Clock Tower, leading to the two massive cylindrical corner towers dressed in rough-hewn blocks of stone. They are 31 metres high, crowned with battlements and decorated with the great marble coat of arms with the Visconti-Sforza grass snake. The sides and the rear have the same characteristics as the façade and at the level of the Rocchetta and the Ducal Court are two series of large gothic windows decorated with brickwork frames. The corner towers at the back are called Torre Falconiera to the right and Torre Castellana (or of the Treasure) to the left; they are square with large windows. At the centre of the side facing the Sempione Park there is the great Porta del Barco. On the left side, next to Porta di Santo Spirito (Door of the Holy Spirit), picturesque restored ruins of a ravelin. On the right is the Porta dei Carmini with a drawbridge and the bridge of Ludovico il Moro.
The Castle interior
The doorway, under the Tower of Filarete, leads into the grand and picturesque Parade Ground, now a garden, was once used to exercise the Sforza troops. The internal front of the tower is distinguished by a balcony with a three-mullioned window, whilst along the left side of the wall runs a construction which act a support. Three buildings, with a dry moat in front of them, close the bottom of the courtyard. To the left stands the Rocchetta, a fortified building in which the Sforza took refuge in dangerous moments. Almost at the centre stands the Tower of Bona di Savoia 36 metres high and commissioned by the widow of Galeazzo Maria Sforza in 1477. To the right, the palace of the Ducal Court, the residence of the Sforza in time of peace and tranquillity. The solitary statue in front of the moat is St. John Nepomucenus erected in 1729. At the sides of the great square two doors with a drawbridge that crosses the external moat. The right one is Porta dei Carmini decorated with architectural fragments of different epochs. The left one is the Porta di Santo Spirito (Gate of the Holy Spirit).
The Ducal Court
The access is through the door surmounted by a great Sforza coat of arms, which rises upon the site of the old Jovian Gate and leads into the vestibule where sculptures and fragments of various Milanese buildings are kept. On the wall one can still see the fresco of the Crucifix between Saints by an unknown Lombard (1470-1480) showing the sponsor, Ambrosino da Longhirana, who was at that time the keeper of the castle for Galeazzo Maria Sforza and Bona di Savoia. From the vestibule one enters the stupendous courtyard of the Ducal Court, flanked on three sides by a two storey construction with two rows of pointed arch windows. The ground floor of the end wall is graced by Renaissance Elephant Door, which owes its name to the frescoed elephant on the wall by Benedetto Ferrini (1473). He also designed the two-storey graceful loggia at the beginning of the left wing, called the Loggia of Galeazzo Maria, that stands above the vestibule of the great staircase.
The Rocchetta
The Rocchetta is a fortress within a fortress surrounded on three sides by porticoes. The right one was constructed by the Florentine Benedetto Ferrini (1466- 1476) by order of Galeazzo Maria, the one opposite is by Filarete and the left one was begun by Bernardino da Corte in 1495 and finished by Bramante under the orders of Ludovico il Moro. From the courtyard, through an archway, one enters the Treasure Room, so called, because the ducal treasure was kept there. On the walls one can see the frescoes of the Lombard school and a damaged fresco by Bramante, showing Argus whit a hundred eyes guarding the door leading to a small room in which the most precious jewels of the Duke were kept.
Crossing the Vittorio Emanuele Arcade from south to north, we come out in the famous Piazza della Scala. On the far side of the square we see La Scala Theater and opposite us is Palazzo Marino, today Milan's City Hall. The monument in the center of the square portays Leonardo Da Vinci sourrounded by his pupils. Galeazzo Alessi was commissioned by the 16th century Genovese merchant Tommaso Marino - a real tycoon in his day - to design the palace. One of its more striking features is the vast inner courtyard with an unusual decorative scheme of human and animal head sculptures surrounded by carved garlands and geometric patterns.
The throbbing heart of Milan is Piazza Del Duomo, the whole city seems to revolve around the square; people are everywere, either on their way to the office or factory, a shopping or theater date, or else slowly strolling around and windows-shopping the fashonable stores under the arcade. The huge rectangular square was renovated in the 19th century by Giuseppe Mengoni who restored all the surrounding buildings to armonize with the Cathedral, which makes an ideal beckground setting. The two long side are actually arcaded buildings, the North Building and the South Building, the former pierced by the triumphal arch of Vittorio Emanuele Arcade and the latter followed by two minor arcaded buildings of 1939 known as the "propilei". In the center of the square is Ercole Rosa's 1896 equestrian monument to Vittorio Emanuele II. The Italian King is portayed as he incites his soldiers on to victory in the Battle of St. Martin. The figure of the king as he reins in his horse and turns to address his men is in keeping with extremly naturalistic treatment of the whole. Along the base is a rilief depicting the Piedmont and French troops entering Milan and on either side is a marble lion. But the most fashinating sights are below and not on Cathedral Square! Important archeological finds were unearthed during a dig in 1942 and the experts soon came to the conclusion that the ruins they had discovered were actually the remains of St. Tecla - originally built in the 4th century and then later rebuilt and rebuilt throughout the centuries until the building was finally torn down in the 15th century. Other remains brough to light behind St. Tecla come from to the octagonal-shaped Baptistery of St. Jhon of the Font, it too dating bach to the 4th century, and lastly, on the same site as the Cathedral, the basilica of St. Maria Maggiore, which gradually disappeared to make way for the giant cathedral.
The galleria, in contrast to the delicate lacy effect of the Cathedral, dominates the square with its weighty bulk and great triumphal archway cut into the long, northern arcade. Built between 1865 and 1877, it was designed by Giuseppe Mengoni who, just before the actual building was completed, fell from scaffolding and plunged to his death. The cross-shaped stucture is surmounted by an extraordinaty colored glass and iron dome. The modern tecnical skill and originality of the Milan Galleria have nothing to fear from a comparison with similar structures put up in London and Paris about the same time. Today this glassed-in street is a center for both cultural and mundane activities with its wellstocked book and record shops, giant cafés, and famous eating spots.
The biggest and greatest late gothic architecture in Italy.
The gothic style is unfamiliar in Italy and the renaissance style is essencially Italian.
Duomo, Milano; Italy, Milano; 1386-1577, west front 1616-1813
Few churches in ltaly underwent such a slow, complex building process as Milan's cathedral. In addition, putting up such a gigantic monument involved not only Lombardy but actually all of Italy. It was, in fact, through the cathedral that the High Gothic style from beyond the Alps made its way down to Milan and henceforth influenced the whole country. Progress was painstakingly slow: work actually went on throughout five centuries, although the original Gothic style was never abandoned. The cathedral, dedicated to Mary, was actually begun in 1387 over the site of the 9th century basilica of St. Maria Maggiore. Built on the express wish of Archbishop Antonio da Saluzzo, the initiative found favor with Gian Galeazzo Visconti (then ruler of the city) and the whole MiIanese population. For that year the chief engineer was Simone da Orsegnigo who was aided by several Campionese (Swiss) masons. Nevertheless, the overall design of the cathedral was undoubtedly conceived by a sole mastermind, an artist definitely from beyond the Alps since, despite the fact that numerous architects had a hand in it, the cathedral never lost its amazing cohesiveness - a characteristic so typical of the work of Northern masters. It must be said, however, that the Gothic schemes in the hands of the Italian architects lost much of their Northern flavor and acquired a more typically Italian feeling. Simone da Orsenigo was, surrounded by a crew of great stonemasons: Marco "de Frixeno" of Campione, Matteo da Campione, and greatest of all, Giovannino de' Grassi.
In 1389 da Orsenigo was dismissed and Nicola di Bonaventura was summoned from Paris. Nicola designed the huge pierced windows of the apse after his arrival in Milan on May 7, 1389 but he too was dismissed (on July 31 , 1390). Italian and foreign master craftsmen followed one another; amog them we may cite the Germans Johann from Freiburg, Heinrich Parler from Gmunden, Ulrich from Fussingen, Hans von Fernach, and the Italians Bernardo da Venezia, Gabriele Stornaloco, Marco da Carona, Giovannino de' Grassi and Giacomo da Campione. The latter two worked permanently in the cathedral workshop from 1392 on and left their imprint in the use of the so-called "Fowery Gothic" style known for its flamboyant decorative patterns. After the death of the great masterster de' Grassi, the Parisan Jean Mignot, sharply critical of what had been previously done, was put in charge, but opposed by Bernardo da Venezia and Bertolino da Novara, he was soon fired, and from then on the building of the Cathedral of Milan was supervised exclusively by Italian masters. In 1400 Filippino degli Ugoni became supervisor of the project; the capitals, vaulting, and terraces are of his design. Work went on at such a fast pace that by 14I8 the main altar could be cousecrated by Pope Martin V. When Francesco Sforza came to power in the mid 15th century, art in Milan was absorbing French and Tuscan influences. 15th century Milanese architecture and thus also that of the cathedral was strotigly influenced by three generations of the Solari family: Giovanni Solari, his son Guinforte, and Guinforte's son Pier Antonio. Guinforte's son-in-law', the great Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, won the competition called in 1490 for the building of the drum. Despite the new Renaissance turn art had taken, Amadeo was a strenuous defender of the structure's Gothic unity. He completed the drum by 1500. Ten years later the first of the four adjacent spires was put up it too in the Gothic style. Meanwhile the great surge of "Flowery Gothic" was gradually losing momentum, beaten by the new more plastic treatment of form advocated by Filarete, Luca Francelli, Francesco di Giorgi, and Leonardo, summoned from all over Italy to give fresh advice and up-to-date opinions on how the cathedral should be built. After a brief German intervention, a master called by Gian Galeazzo Sforza from Strasburg in 1482, Pellegrino Pellegrini, also known as Tibaldi, the favorite architect of Archbishop Carlo Borromeo, was named mastermason. Pellegrini immediately threw himself into the job and designed the patterns for the flooring and choir stalls. In 1572 Borromeo reconsecrated the cathedral. In 1585, when Pellegrini left for Spain, he got Martino Bassi and then later Lelio Buzzi, who had earlier designed the Ambrosian Library, to take over. When the other great Borromeo, Federico, was Archbishop, Fabio Mangoni was put in charge of the cathedral building, followed by Richini and the Quadrio, but the 18th century was ushered in and it was still incomplete. The great spire was erected between 1765 and 1769 and the façade, based on Pellegrini's idea, was put up between 1815 and 1813. Work went on right through the 19th century, during which time the spires and the towers with stairways inside were completed. The whole complex construction, however, was badly in need of restoration: the first campaign was undertaken in 1935 and the second - even more complicated and painful - after the bombardments of 1943. During the latter restoration project, the flooring was restored and the statues and decorative elements which had suffered the greatest war damage were replaced. Finally, on December 8, 1966, the new churchyard was dedicated.
THE LATEST RESTORATION of The Last Supper, painted by Leonardo da Vinci in what five centuries ago was the friars' dining room at Santa Maria delle Grazie, was recently completed.
The Church and Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the home of Leonardo's Last Supper, has been listed as part of UNESCO's Worldwide Heritage since 1980 and is an exceptional masterpiece of human creativity and genius.
Bramante's complex and architecture in the church and the Leonardo's Last Supper in the Refectory are symbolic of Milan's Humanistic and Renaissance past, constituting a great opus whose spatial and compositive definition announced a new era in the history of art.
The "Cenacolo" is the name commonly given to the ambient where Leonardo painted his famous "Last Supper". The "Cenacolo" is the name commonly given to the ambient where Leonardo painted his famous "Last Supper": the Refectory in the Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, an exceptional artistic masterpiece of Renaissance Milan, built in the mid-15th century.
The rectangular Refectory hall, closed by lunette vaults, is decorated by two enormous paintings, chosen in consideration of the final use of the room and the religious traditions of the Dominican order: apart from the Last Supper there is also the "Crucifixion" by Donato Montorfano, painted respectively on the northern wall and the southern wall. The two great scenes are linked by a painted frieze of plant garlands, which support pages of Bible quotations that inspire monastic life. Above there are portraits of monks and saints in trompe l'oeil architecture oculi, also attributed to Donato Montorfano, but now sadly incomplete because of the damage caused by the bombings of 1943 that completely destroyed the vault and the eastern wall, whilst the wall with the Last Supper was saved simply because of the foresight of sandbagging it.
Originally, and before Leonardo's intervention, this ambient was completely different: it was perfectly symmetrical with sixteen windows, eight per wall, aligned with the lunettes, above the trabeation, and it is supposed that Leonardo himself imposed the rearrangement of the windows so that he could paint the Last Supper there.
The Last Supper was painted in the ambit of the extensive artistic and cultural revival that from 1490 involved Milan, under the patronage of Ludovico Sforza - "il Moro". The Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie was fully involved and in 1495, when Donato Montorfano was completing his Crucifixion for the Refectory, Leonardo was commissioned by the Duke to decorate the facing wall with a Last Supper. The commission is documented by the coats of arms that appear within plant garlands in the four lunettes above the "Supper" and are a reminder of the names of Ludovico, Beatrice and their children.
The Last Supper was quite slow in evolving despite the urgings of Ludovico Sforza and the prior. It actually took Leonardo about four years (1494-1498) with the dry or tempera technique he had decided to use, as if it had been a great tablet (4.60x8.80m). First of all he decided not to apply the consolidated fresco technique, which offered assurances for conservation, but was time-consuming to spread. What Leonardo required was the utmost freedom during the executive stage in order to correct, modify and achieve special color effects. Moreover, the fresco technique was irreconcilable with his bizarre temperament that led him to alternate periods of intense activity with others of total rest, as related by Matteo Bandello, who was a guest of the convent fathers and often saw Leonardo at work.
Although The Last Supper was a traditional theme used to decorate convent refectories, especially in Florence (memorable are those by Taddeo Gaddi, Beato Angelico, Andrea del Castagno and Ghirlandaio), Leonardo presented the subject in a completely innovative form. Not only did he make drastic modifications to the layout of the scene, but also the true novelty was the astounding realism with which he recounted this episode from the Gospels.
Where & When
Piazza
S. Maria delle Grazie 2
Corso Magenta
20123 Milano
Public transportation
MM1 Conciliazione
MM1, MM2 Cadorna
Tram 20-24-29-30
Reservation required
tel +39 02 89421146
www.cenacolovinciano.org
