Did you know that Milan was a great cultural capital during the Renaissance?
When we think of this period, the wonders of cities such as Florence, Urbino, Padua, Mantua, and Vicenza, as well as Rome, Bologna, and Venice, easily appear in our imagination. Speaking of Renaissance, however, not many people also think of Milan: yet, it was precisely the Lombard capital between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that was affected by a fruitful artistic season from which splendid works of art sprang and which culminated, at the end of the fifteenth century, with the arrival in the city of Donato Bramante and Leonardo da Vinci… the Tuscan genius, an icon of the Italian Renaissance, stayed in Milan for almost twenty years!
The Renaissance in Milan was undoubtedly a golden period for the city. Brocades, velvets, and gilded fabrics adorned what was one of the most opulent courts in Europe at the time, and on the streets it should not have been difficult to encounter knights in shining armor, ladies elegantly harnessed in fur, and horses with shining manes. Indeed, in Europe the expression“ouvrage de Lombardie” was synonymous with fine workmanship, courtly taste and refinement.
What is more, with the beginning of the Sforza domination starting in 1450, the city underwent a series of urban transformations in which the construction of important buildings such as the Castello Sforzesco (rebuilt on the Visconti foundations), the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and the Ca’ Granda, the city’s first public hospital, erected a stone’s throw from the Duomo, was also part of. Not to mention the pictorial masterpieces guarded by the city, such as the Da Vinci Last Supper or the later decoration of the church of San Maurizio at the Monastero Maggiore, a true treasure chest of the most mature Lombard Renaissance, by now in the early 16th century. Milan, from the second half of the 15th century, became a magnet for a great many high-caliber artists, inventors, and architects, both Italian and also foreign: among the most important were Leonardo da Vinci, Donato Bramante, and, last but not least, Bernardino Luini, to name but a few.
The Renaissance charm of Milan: Santa Maria delle Grazie and the Casa degli Atellani
If there is a part of Milan that encapsulates the soul of the Lombard Renaissance, that is precisely today’s Magenta area, formerly known as borgo delle Grazie, the most exclusive residential neighborhood of Sforza-era Milan! The name of the borough obviously takes its name from the basilica of the Dominican convent: facing right on Corso Magenta, in the square of the same name, stands the basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie, built between 1463 and 1497 to a design by architect Guiniforte Solari. Besides being one of the most recognizable Renaissance architectures in the city, it is famous because the refectory of the adjacent convent complex houses Leonardo’s Last Supper .
Externally, the church features a sober gabled facade and a dome enclosed by the characteristic prism-shaped tiburium, the so-called Tribuna del Bramante: the artist from the Marche region, who had been active in Milan for a few years, created this work at the behest of Ludovico il Moro, inspired by the model of Brunelleschi’s Old Sacristy in San Lorenzo in Florence. The duke would have liked to create here the muasoleum of the Sforza dynasty….
Entering the basilica, then, is just like taking a plunge into the Lombard Renaissance: we go from the Sforza Mausoleum designed by Cristoforo Solari, to the Chapel of Santa Corona in which we will also be confronted with the sumptuous Crucifixion, the work of Gaudenzio Ferrari; it is also impossible not to admire Giovanni Demìo ‘s frescoes in the Sauli Chapel and the Chapel of St. John the Baptist, unmistakable for its peculiar umbrella vault and Mannerist-style frescoes and a treasure chest for an altarpiece by Leonardo’s Marco d’Oggiono. Many of the paintings in the basilica were, however, taken away during the Napoleonic spoliations. An unusual detail to unearth inside the church? Looking up at the ceiling of the basilica, one can also notice a crocodile, which according to popular belief plundered the waters of the Mincio River only to be captured by the intervention of the Virgin.
The beauties of the Santa Maria delle Grazie complex, however, do not end there: adjacent to the church is the Chiostro delle Rane, a splendid verdant courtyard that allows visitors to admire Bramante’s Tribuna from a privileged vantage point, framed by the typically Renaissance round arches that define the perimeter of the cloister.
Curious to discover other corners of the Renaissance in the Corso Magenta area? A few steps from Santa Maria delle Grazie is a 15th-century mansion from the time of Ludovico Sforza: the Casa degli Atellani, residence of the nobleman Giacometto di Lucia dell’Atella, who received this dwelling as a gift directly from the Moor; his descendants, the Atellani, lived here until the 18th century. Today’s facade was redone in the 20th century by architect Piero Portaluppi, but inside parts of the original structure are still preserved, starting with lunettes with painted portraits from the early 16th century and traces of frescoes in the 15th-century courtyard. In the garden, also restored by Portaluppi in neo-Baroque style, is the so-called Leonardo da Vinci Vineyard. The vineyard is said to have been given to the great Tuscan artist by Ludovico il Moro, probably as thanks for his most famous work, the Last Supper. The original vineyard, to tell the truth, was not exactly on the present site, but it must have been not far away anyway, in the garden of Casa Atellani, but what is certain is that it still produces a delicious wine, Malvasia di Candia Aromatica.
Leonardo in Milan: the Last Supper Vinciano
The best-known image of the Renaissance in Milan, however, is surely theLast Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, the wall painting that the great Tuscan artist created in the refectory of the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie roughly between 1494 and 1498. It is one of the most famous and important paintings in the entire history of art and one that from the very beginning was able to surprise his contemporaries. In fact, for the first time we witness the depiction of aLast Supper strongly human and participatory, the result of an in-depth study of the “motions of the soul”: feelings of astonishment, disappointment, frustration and anger emerge on the faces of the apostles at the very moment when Jesus announces that one among them would betray him. Leonardo painted theLast Supper not with the fresco technique, as one might easily think, but in drypoint: for this reason it is a very delicate work, which was already in a state of decay when Giorgio Vasari, who called it a “beautiful and marvelous thing,” saw it in the mid-sixteenth century. In 1980 it was declared, along with the entire Santa Maria delle Grazie complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it was considered a “unique artistic achievement of outstanding universal value that transcends all historical contingencies.”
Renaissance treasures in Milan a stone’s throw from the Duomo: Santa Maria presso San Satiro and the Ca’ Granda
Another jewel of the Renaissance in Milan? Moving toward Via Torino, defiladed from the hustle and bustle of one of Milan’s main shopping streets and within walking distance of the Duomo, hides the church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro, built between 1478 and 1518. The name of the church is due to the fact that the new Renaissance house of worship was built near a small 9th-century shrine, dedicated precisely to San Satiro, and later incorporated into the complex. What does it hold that is so interesting? To make up for the lack of space that would have prevented the construction of a large chancel, Bramante was called in again, who, with great ingenuity, created a fake painted chancel capable of giving, through skillful use of perspective, the illusion of being in front of a space 9.7 meters deep… too bad that the space Bramante had available was only 97 centimeters deep! An amazing work, complete with arches, pilasters and even a coffered vault! Also extremely interesting are Bramante’s Sacristy and the Sacellum of San Satiro where one of the sculptural masterpieces of the Lombard Renaissance is kept: the extraordinary Lamentation by Agostino de’ Fondulis.
However, if we head toward the Duomo and continue for a few more minutes, we will come across another of the quintessential Renaissance works: the Ca’ Granda, now home to the State University and one of the symbols of 15th-century Milan. It was Duke Francesco Sforza who ordered its construction, as an inscription still visible on the facade recalls: the desire of the lord of Milan was to provide the city with a large and modern hospital. Construction began in 1456 on a project by Antonio Averulino known as Filarete, who was later succeeded by Guiniforte Solari and, after the latter’s death, Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, architects who modified the original design to make it even more inclined to the Lombard taste of the time. Work continued until 1499, the year of the fall of the Sforza family, and then restarted in the seventeenth century. Although the building site was not yet completed, the Ca’ Granda had already begun to receive its first patients in the 15th century. A special feature of which, as Milanese, to be proud? The construction was completely made possible by donations from so many citizens and benefactors. This, however, implied a very long construction time, so much so that the third and final construction phase dates back to the nineteenth century, with the great donation of the notary Giuseppe Macchi.
The complex was later devastated by the bombings of 1942-1943, which particularly affected precisely the last wing built, the 19th-century one. The restoration of the Ca’ Granda, led by Liliana Grassi and Piero Portaluppi, among others, is considered a “masterpiece of restoration,” worthy of having preserved one of the jewels of the Renaissance in Milan.
