MILAN CATHEDRAL

Description

Essentials about Milan Cathedral in brief

Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano) is the main landmark of the city and definitely belongs to those sights in the world that every traveler should have seen once in his life. With its imposing white marble facade, the 158-meter-long, 93-meter-wide and 109-meter-high Duomo is an incredibly majestic sight and is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful churches in the world. In terms of area, the cathedral is the third largest church in the world after St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and Seville Cathedral. The Cathedral is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Milan and the most important work of Gothic architecture in Italy.

The history of Milan Cathedral

As early as the fourth century, there was a Roman temple and an early Christian church on the present site of the cathedral, as well as a larger Roman basilica in the area of the present cathedral square. The previous buildings were destroyed several times and rebuilt in a modified form.

The construction of the current cathedral was begun in 1386 on the initiative of Bishop Antonio Saluzzo by the city lord Gian Galeazzo Visconti, later the first Duke of Milan. Visconti pursued a highly ambitious project, modeling it on cathedral buildings in other European centers of power, in order to demonstrate his claim to a leading role in northern Italy.

In 1388, the foundations were laid and construction of the outer walls of a three-nave church began from the apse. By 1402, contemporary sources mention competing French and German builders in addition to Italian ones. Since the Lombard builders wanted to give preference to native stylistic ideas, while the foreign builders sought maximum height and illumination of the church, disputes arose and the foreign masters were ousted by the Lombards. Nevertheless, the cathedral remained very much influenced by the French and German Gothic styles.

Around 1400 the apse was raised, in 1402 the choir windows with stained glass were made, and in 1409 the transepts were completed. When Pope Martin V consecrated the main altar in 1418, the crossing tower was still unfinished. In the second half of the 15th century, the construction of the cathedral was pushed to the west. The building material, marble from the princely quarries of Candoglia in the Val d’Ossola on Lake Maggiore, with which the core of the building is made of brick, was shipped to Milan via canals such as the Naviglio Grande.

The construction of the crossing tower caused great static and design problems, but was completed in 1500 in the era of the cathedral’s master builder Giovanni Antonio Amadeo. When Bishop Charles Borromeo was finally able to consecrate the cathedral in 1572, it was still closed off to the west with a makeshift brick wall. Various façade designs from the first half of the 16th century onwards were initially not carried out.

The cathedral architect Pellegrino Tibaldi, who had been active since 1567, first thoroughly rebuilt the choir in the style of the early Baroque until 1577. Of his plan for the façade, drawn up around 1570, which envisaged a “Roman” façade in the Renaissance style instead of the Gothic elevation (now negatively connoted as “German” and “Protestant”), little more than the portal zone was realized. Carlo Buzzi, cathedral architect from 1630, modified it, separating the five axes by pinnacles in 1647 and re-emphasizing the Gothic vertical. But construction progressed slowly in the 17th and 18th centuries, although it was reduced to work on the façade.

It was not until Napoleon, who had himself crowned King of Italy in the cathedral on May 26, 1805, commissioned Giuseppe Zanola to continue the facade in the neo-Gothic style, and it was finally completed by Amati in 1813. In 1858 the bell tower was demolished and the pinnacles were completed in the early 1890s.

The question of a campanile appropriate to the monumental character of the cathedral was also repeatedly discussed. In 1938, under Mussolini, there were even plans to build the highest church tower in the world by 1942. For lack of money, however, the project remained unrealized.

The outside of Milan Cathedral

Milan Cathedral was built essentially in the Gothic style and is thus an exception within Italian architecture. However, the facade, which was not completed until the time of Napoleon, is rather a mixture of Baroque and Neo-Gothic style elements.

Side walls

The side walls of the cathedral date from the 15th to the 18th century and are punctuated by rhythmic pinnacled buttresses and high windows. In the transepts, the buttresses are double, and here stairs lead up inside. The top is decorated with fine ornamentation. The walls are decorated with more than 2,000 sculptures and 135 pinnacles, which give an overview of the sculptural art of local and foreign artists and craftsmen from various periods.

Roof

A special feature is the roof, which can be accessed for a fee, either by stairs or elevator. From there, you can get a close-up view of the artful details of the cathedral’s stonemasonry. For those who prefer to gaze into the distance, the roof of the Duomo offers a great panoramic view of all of Milan. On clear days, you can even make out the mountains of the Alps in the background.

Crossing tower

The octagonal crossing tower of Amadeo was built in the 15th and 16th centuries. On the central spire is emblazoned a gilded statue of Our Lady ascending to heaven, popularly known as “La Madonnina”, visible from afar. The statue was modeled by Giuseppe Perego from sheet copper, gilded according to the suggestion of Anton Raphael Mengs and placed on top in 1774.

Portals

Five portals on the façade lead to the interior of the cathedral. The bronze doors of the main portal by Lodovico Poliaghi show the Seven Joys of Mary opposite a depiction of her Seven Sorrows. The virtuously modeled reliefs combine elements of Neo-Gothic with those of Art Nouveau.

The northernmost side portal from 1948 is dedicated to the peace of Christianity. The large panels of the Edict of Milan in the center are accompanied by scenes of persecution and liberation of Christians. The wings of the next door from 1950 are dedicated to the life of St. Ambrose. To the right of the main doorway, there are further depictions of Milan’s medieval battles against the Holy Roman Empire, and the wooden door on the far right, from 1965, depicts the history of the cathedral in the era of Charles Borromeo.

The inside of Milan Cathedral

Ground plan and elevation

The very regular ground plan of Milan Cathedral has the shape of a Latin cross. The basic dimensions of the five naves of the nave, the three-aisled transept and the French-style ambulatory chancel flanked by sacristies follow fixed dimensional relationships: The nave and crossing are twice as wide as each of the square aisles.

The elevation, although basilical, shows only a slight height gradation typical of Lombard architecture, is thus sparsely lit and appears squat. The vaults are supported by 52 bundle piers, whose peculiar capitals, up to six meters high, are crowned with niches containing figures of saints, some of which in turn are finished with figures of prophets on the canopies.

Floors

The floor of the cathedral was laid from 1585 in its present form of white-red-black slabs and was completed only in the middle of the 20th century. It consists of marble and other stone laid as colored incrustations.

Central Portal

The central portal is surrounded on the inner façade by early Baroque architectural elements, and flanked by late Classicist statues from 1837 of Saints Ambrose and Carlo. A memorial stone commemorates the consecrations of the cathedral in 1418 and 1577. A narrow staircase leads to the archaeological excavations (remains of the previous buildings) and to the former baptistery.

Left side aisle

Here are altars from the 16th to the 19th century with important art treasures, such as marble slabs from the 12th century with apostle figures and that wooden cross, which was carried by Charles Borromeo during the procession in 1576. Furthermore, the baptistery with a Roman tub, originally located in the central nave, was moved here in the 17th century.

Right side aisle

Besides altars from the 14th and 15th centuries, many sarcophagi of saints and donors are preserved. The windows were made by Flemish, Lombard and Rhenish artists in the 15th century.

Transept

The right transept, with the tomb of Gian Giacomo Medici, like the one on the left, is furnished and decorated with beautiful statues, including the famous statue of the flayed St. Bartholomew by Marco d’Agrate from 1562. The left transept houses the Trivulzio Candelabra. The five-meter-high, seven-branched candelabrum is a masterpiece of early Gothic bronze founders from the Rhineland, the Meuse region or Lorraine; it was formerly attributed to Nicholas of Verdun and in any case dates from the decades around 1200. It depicts biblical and secular scenes.

Choir

Pellegrini built the presbytery in the second half of the 16th century, whose wooden choir screens surround the high altar, which under a ciborium in the form of a round temple contains a tabernacle supported by four bronze angels sculpted by Francesco Brambilla in 1590. The dome is crowned by a statue of Christ triumphant.

Only during the Easter season is the figurine-decorated, teardrop-shaped Easter candelabrum of 1439 hung above the altar. Once a year only, on every May 3, a Holy Cross nail in its cruciform reliquary is lowered from its usual place in the ceiling vault, marked by a red lamp, and displayed. The 17th century reliefs on the rear chancel wall outside depict scenes from the life of Mary.

Crypt

From Pellegrini, dating from 1606, is the circular crypt, located directly under the high altar and accessible from the southern rear wall of the choir. From here you can reach the Scurolo di San Carlo, an octagonal chapel built in 1606, which contains the mortal remains of St. Charles Borromeo in a crystal urn. The lining, with silver reliefs on the life of the saint, was made by Milanese goldsmiths of the 19th century.

Sacristies

The two sacristies are located on either side of the chancel and structurally they date from the 14th century. The portal of the south sacristy is by the German sculptor Hans von Fernach from 1391 and the basin from 1396. The portal of the north sacristy is from 1396, the marble floor from 1407 and the ceiling frescoes were created around 1600.

Glass windows

Very unusual for a place of worship in Italy are the large-format stained glass windows of Milan Cathedral. The windows, some of which were created as early as the 14th century, are in varying states of preservation.