'600 - '700
From 1535 to 1713 Milan was occupied by the Spaniards: the status of “occupied territory” continued, with changing fortunes, after the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), and also with the Austrian occupation, until the Second Italian War of Independence, although with the short period of Napoleonic occupation. For this reason, Milan probably holds the Italian record for longest foreign occupation.
The restoration works we are presenting concern monuments built between the XVII and XVIII century up to the Napoleonic Era. During these years the town shows, in sync with the Western world, the distinguishing Baroque and Neoclassic features, often with local and original characteristics: a rich period of aesthetic and technical innovations regarding materials, construction techniques and new decorative setups.
A slow but gradual urban development, initially contained inside the town walls wanted by Charles V, participated to the development of the major works altready started at the end of the XVI century , like the Seminario Vescovile (the Bishopric Seminary), Brera Palace, the Collegio Elvetico (the Swiss School), and the continuation of other works such as the Duomo - Milan cathedral - always at the core of the architectural debate - the Cà Granda and the massive realization of hydraulic works aiming to complete and improve Navigli (Milan canal system) waterways. The town was filled with a constellation of new aristocratic buildings, such as Palazzo Litta, Palazzo Dugnani, and new churches like Sant’Alessandro, Santa Maria alla Porta, San Bernardino alle Ossa and San Vito al Pasquirolo.
In the late XVIII century, after a long period of peace and knowledgeable and steady administration, Milan was considered a farsighted town, driven by his economic and cultural growth. The heritage of this period can be seen in significant artworks such as, among others, the Rotonda della Besana, the Scala, Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Cusani, Palazzo Clerici, Villa Belgiogioso, Palazzo Serbelloni, the Arena Civica and also the first public green areas among which we have to mention the important compound of Villa Reale in Monza.
Arch. Libero Corrieri
Commission for the Architectural and Landscape Heritage of Milan
Highlights
At the beginning of the Modern Era, the ancient medieval settlements which constituted the heart of the town, started to disappear to make space to new architectural styles which were going to draw the urban horizon. Serbelloni Palace, monumental neoclassic building, is one of the most important examples of the transition period represented by the 18th century, where the triumphal architecture became part of a very cosy but still rural urban fabric.
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The soil and building characteristics allowed the design of the enlargement of the warehouses thanks to the construction of the first of three planned structures.
This first structure (consisting of two underground levels) is located under the garden facing Via Boschetti, and it hosts the generating and power stations supplying the whole building plus a first enlargement of the storages.
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The monumental entrance portal of Barni Palace consists of a couple of ionic marble columns over moulded plinths with rear pilasters from which a rounded arch spreads out. Over the capitals two shelves decorated with leaves of acanthus, support the balcony at the first floor.
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The use of Villa di Breme Gualdoni Forno as a higher education centre of the University of Milan-Bicocca, allowed to protect the original plant of the villa, through an almost natural adjustment procedure of the new spaces to the existing ones.
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