Italian Gothic architecture

[Bianca]

The famous "Madunina" atop the main spire of the cathedral,
a baroque gilded bronze artwork.







During the subsequent Spanish domination, the new church proved usable, even though the interior remained
largely unfinished, and some bays of the nave and the transepts were still missing. In 1552 Giacomo Antegnati
was commissioned to build a large organ for the north side of the choir, and Giuseppe Meda provided four
of the sixteen pales which were to decorate the altar area.

(The program was completed by Federico Borromeo).





In 1562 Marco d' Lopez's St. Bartholomew and the famous Trivulzio candelabra (12th century) were added.

FOLLOWING PHOTOGRAPHS:

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Carlo Borromeo



After the accession of the ambitious Carlo Borromeo to the archbishop's throne, all lay monuments were removed from the Duomo. These included the tombs of Giovanni, Barnabò and Filippo Maria Visconti, Francesco and his wife Bianca, Galeazzo Maria and Lodovico Sforza, which were brought to unknown destinations. However, Borromeo's main intervention was the appointment, in 1571, of Pellegrino Pellegrini as chief engineer— a contentious move, since to appoint Pellegrino, who was not a lay brother of the duomo, required a revision of the Fabbrica's statutes.

Borromeo and Pellegrino strove for a new, Renaissance appearance for the cathedral, that would emphasise its Roman / Italian nature, and subdue the Gothic style, which was now seen as foreign. As the façade still was largely incomplete, Pellegrini designed a "Roman" style one, with columns, obelisks and a large tympanum. When Pellegrini's design was revealed, a competition for the design of the facade was announced, and this elicited nearly a dozen entries, including by Antonio Barca.

This design was never carried out, but the interior decoration continued: in 1575-1585 the presbytery was rebuilt, while new altars and the baptistry were added in the nave.

Wooden choirstalls were constructed by 1614 for the main altar by Francesco Brambilla.

In 1577 Borromeo finally consecrated the whole edifice as a new church, distinct from the old Santa Maria Maggiore and Santa Tecla (which had been unified in 1549 after heavy disputes).

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The cathedral as it looked in 1745.

Image:Dal Re, Marc'Antonio (1697-1766) -
Vedute di Milano - 09 - Il Duomo -

ca. 1745







17th century
 


At the beginning of the 17th century Federico Borromeo had the foundations of the new façade laid by Francesco Maria Richini and Fabio Mangone. Work continued until 1638 with the construction of five portals and two middle windows. In 1649, however, the new chief architect Carlo Buzzi introduced a striking revolution: the façade was to revert to original Gothic style, including the already finished details within big Gothic pilasters and two giant belfries. Other designs were provided by, among others, Filippo Juvarra (1733) and Luigi Vanvitelli (1745), but all remained unapplied. In 1682 the façade of Santa Maria Maggiore was demolished and the cathedral's roof covering completed.

 
In 1762 one of the main features of the cathedral, the Madonnina's spire, was erected at the dizzying height of 108.5 m. It was designed by Francesco Croce and sports at the top a famous polychrome statue of the Madonna, that befits the original stature of the cathedral. Given Milan's notoriously damp and foggy climate, the Milanese consider it a fair-weather day when the Madonnina is visible from a distance, as it is so often covered by mist.

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The Napoleonic facade with its striking rosy marble revetment.

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Completion



On May 20, 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte, about to be crowned King of Italy, ordered the façade to be finished. In his enthusiasm, he assured that all expenses would fall to the French treasurer, who would reimburse the Fabbrica for the real estate it had to sell.

Even though this reimbursement was never paid, it still meant that finally, within only seven years, the Cathedral had its façade completed.

The new architect, Francesco Soave, largely followed Buzzi's project, adding some neo-Gothic details to the upper windows. As a form of thanksgiving, a statue of Napoleon was placed at the top of one of the spires.


Piazza del Duomo and Duomo di Milano, 1909.


In the following years, most of the missing arches and spires were constructed. The statues on the southern wall were also finished, while in 1829-1858, new stained glass windows replaced the old ones, though with less aesthetically significant results.

The last details of the cathedral were finished only in the 20th century: the last gate was inaugurated on January 6, 1965. This date is considered the very end of a process which had proceeded for generations, although even now, some uncarved blocks remain to be completed as statues.

The Duomo's main facade is under renovation as of 2007; canvas-covered scaffolding obscures most of the facade.

[Bianca]

Architecture and art



The cathedral of Milano is one of the greatest church in the world, second only to Saint Petros Basilica in Rome and Sevilla cathedral in Spain. The ground plan is of a nave with 5 aisles, crossed by a transept and then followed by choir and apsis. The height of the nave is about 45 meters, the highest Gothic vaults of a complete church (less than the 48 meters of Beauvais cathedral that was never completed).

The roof is open to tourists (for a fee), which allows many a close-up view of some really spectacular sculpture that would otherwise be unappreciated. The roof of the cathedral is renowned for the forest of pinnacles and spires, sitting upon delicate flying buttresses.

The cathedral's five wide naves, divided by forty pillars, are reflected in the hierarchic openings of the facade. Even the transepts have aisles. The roofline dissolves into openwork pinnacles that are punctuated by a grove of spires. The huge building is of brick construction, faced with marble from the quarries which Gian Galeazzo Visconti donated in perpetuity to the cathedral chapter. Its maintenance and repairs are very complicated

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DETAIL OF WINDOWS FROM THE EXTERIOR

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The American writer and journalist Mark Twain

In his Innocents Abroad, describes the Duomo as follows:





“ What a wonder it is! So grand, so solemn, so vast! And yet so delicate, so airy, so graceful! A very world of solid weight, and yet it seems ...a delusion of frostwork that might vanish with a breath!... The central one of its five great doors is bordered with a bas-relief of birds and fruits and beasts and insects, which have been so ingeniously carved out of the marble that they seem like living creatures-- and the figures are so numerous and the design so complex, that one might study it a week without exhausting its interest...everywhere that a niche or a perch can be found about the enormous building, from summit to base, there is a marble statue, and every statue is a study in itself...Away above, on the lofty roof, rank on rank of carved and fretted spires spring high in the air, and through their rich tracery one sees the sky beyond. ... (Up on) the roof...springing from its broad marble flagstones, were the long files of spires, looking very tall close at hand, but diminishing in the distance...We could see, now, that the statue on the top of each was the size of a large man, though they all looked like dolls from the street... They say that the Cathedral of Milan is second only to St. Peter's at Rome. I cannot understand how it can be second to anything made by human hands.


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Genavese Cavera]

Wonderful collection of images, Bianca!  You have good tates for fine Italian architecture.