David Fagerlie

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The population of the “comune” of Milan, in Italy a constituency or township, is just under 1.4 million, making it the second largest city in Italy. What is considered to be the immediate metropolitan area is 3.36 million inhabitants. However, as a continuously built-up urban area – “Greater Milan” – the population is 6.5 million, the largest urban area in Italy. Strengths of Milan include art, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance and more. It is the center of business prowess in Italy.

I enjoyed the giant artwork "Ago, Filo e Nodo" (Needle, Thread, and Knot) by artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen representing Milan's status as a fashion capital.

Ago, Filo e Nodo (Needle, Thread, and Knot) by artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

In the Northwest corner of a very large plaza in central Milan is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping center. It appears as a grouping of historic four-story buildings with curved glass coverings between buildings to protect shoppers from the weather. At the plaza entry is a grand archway similar to those built by emperors of an earlier time.

The center is named after the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It was designed by architect Giuseppe Mengoni in 1861, including the glass-vaulted arcades, and built between 1865 and 1877.

In World War II the Galleria was damaged by Allied bombings; therefore, much of the current glass isn’t from the 1800s. Still, it is much older than I would have guessed. The ornate walls under stylistic glass was attractive and imagination inducing.

Duomo di Milano

On the far south end of the plaza is the entrance to the Duomo di Milano, the fourth largest cathedral in the world. Groundbreaking was in 1386 but the cathedral was not completed until 1965.

Saint Luke the Apostle

Esther and King Ahasuerus by Gaspare Vismara

Eliezer and Rebecca at the Well by Carlo Pellicani between 1807 and 1813

The Sacrifice of Isaac by Gaspare Vismara

Wide angle view of the street from the top of the duomo

Madonnina by Giuseppe Perego 1774

Pietà by Ludovico Pogliaghi

Nativity of the Virgin Mary by Ludovico Pogliaghi between 1894 and 1908

Saint Andrew the Apostle

Marriage of the Virgin Mary by Ludovico Pogliaghi

Sixteenth century tabernacle designed by Pellegrino Tibaldi

Brera Picture Gallery

The Brera Picture Gallery is a very large gallery of paintings. The building was constructed to be a convent that was later handed over to the Jesuit order in 1572. The building was substantially rebuilt 1627-1628 to be an observatory and national library. The picture gallery took on its first painting sometime around 1802 and its first showing of paintings was in 1805.

Entering the courtyard of the building, it was easy to imagine the building as a convent. The statue, "Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker," by Antonio Canova, portrays Napoleon Bonaparte as the Roman god of war, Mars. It was originally created between 1802 and 1806 but this version was cast in 1811. The work was commissioned by Charles-Jean-Marie Alquire, French ambassador to Rome, as a gift to Eugene de Beauharnais, viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy. De Beauharnais sent the piece to Milan in 1812. The city had a hard time finding a place for the sculpture until it was placed at the Brera and inaugurated there in August 1859.

Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker by Antonio Canova 1802-1806

What goes on in the mind of an artist when creating? Why create a huge sculpture of Napoleon as "Mars the Peacemaker?" Something that has long fascinated me is the depiction of individuals that could not have been seen by an artist and how they vary.

The Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Andrea Mantegna

Pietà by Giovanni Bellini c. 1460

Camerino Triptych by Carlo Crivelli 1482

Most interesting to me is depictions of the Madonna and Christ child by different artists that could never have met them. In Bellini’s Madonna and Child, neither seem terribly excited to be posing for a painting.

Madonna and Child by Giovanni Bellini c. 1510

Madonna of the Cherubim by Andrea Mantegna c. 1485

Madonna della Candeletta by Carlo Crivelli c. 1490-1492

Bergognone’s imagery is among my favorites. I love his artistry and the looks of suspicion on the faces of the Madonna and child causes me to wonder what the artist imagined his subjects were thinking?

Madonna and Child with God the Father and Angels by Ambrosia Bergognone between 1488 and 1494

Brera Madonna by Piero della Francesca between 1472 and 1474

Museo del Novecento

The Museo del Novecento ("museum of the twentieth century") is a museum of twentieth-century art in Milan. It is housed in the Palazzo dell'Arengario, near Piazza del Duomo in the centre of the city.

The museum opened on 6 December 2010. It displays about 400 works, most of them from the twentieth century. Apart from a single room housing works by foreign artists ... the majority of the works exhibited in the museum are by Italian artists. --Wikipedia

Sfera n. 5 by Arnaldo Pomodoro 1965

I was quite enthralled with Umberto Boccioni. He was an influential Italian painter and sculptor. He helped shape the revolutionary aesthetic of the Futurism movement as one of its principal figures. Despite his short life, [he died at age 33] his approach to the dynamism of form and the deconstruction of solid mass guided artists long after his death. --Wikipedia

Dynamism of a Cyclist by Umberto Boccioni 1912

Human Body (Dynamism) by Umberto Boccioni 1913

States of Mind (I) - Those Who Stay by Umberto Boccioni 1911

States of Mind (I) - Those Who Leave by Umberto Boccioni 1911

Study for The City Rises by Umberto Boccioni 1910

I mortified di Bligny trasalirebbero (The Dead of Bligny Would Wince) by Arturo Martini between 1935 and 1937

Mercury Passing Before the Sun by Giacomo Balla 1913

Figura by Mario Sironi 1913

Untitled (Pliers) by Piero Manzoni 1956

The Philosopher's Rest by Giorgio de Chirico 1925-1926

Solidity of Fog by Luigi Russolo 1912

Interventionist Demonstration (Patriotic Holiday-Freeword Painting) by Carlo Carrà 1914

Mannequins (Still Life with Mannequins) by Felice Casorati 1924

Sitting Your Lady by Lucio Fontana 1934

Still Life with Triangle by Carlo Carrà 1917

Dynamism of a Dancer by Gino Severini 1912

Tuscan Landscape by Gino Severini 1912-1913

The Fight by Emilio Vedova 1949

The Hug by Afro Basaldella 1949

Verticale III Assalonne by Francesco Somaini 1960

Milan Neighborhoods

Following is a graphic representation of Milan from years ago.

Our favorite cafe was just a half block from where we were staying.

Monument to Leonardo da Vinci by Pietro Magni 1872

Finally, The Last Supper is a mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci, dated to c. 1495–1498, housed in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. The painting represents the scene of the Last Supper of Jesus with the Twelve Apostles, as it is told in the Gospel of John – specifically the moment after Jesus announces that one of his apostles will betray him. --Wikipedia

Next week we travel to Italy’s northwestern coast. See you then.

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