Insight Guides Pocket Milan (Travel Guide eBook) by Insight Guides

Author:Insight Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, Italy
Publisher: Apa Publications
Published: 2019-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

Lavish marble sarcophagus in the Cappella Portinari

Glyn Genin/Apa Publications

Similar to Brunelleschi’s Cappella Pazzi in Florence, this simple chapel was one of the first Renaissance works in the city. Traditionally attributed to the Florentine Michelozzo, it is now believed to have been designed by a Lombard architect working in Tuscan circles. The chapel was commissioned by Pigello Portinari, a Florentine nobleman and agent of the Medici Bank in Milan, to house the relics of St Peter Martyr – as well as his own. St Peter Martyr (Pietro da Verona) was an Inquisitor who persecuted the Cathars, one of whom took revenge and killed him in 1252. His relics lie in the lavishly carved marble sarcophagus (1339), a masterpiece by Giovanni Balduccio from Pisa. The saint’s skull is protected in a silver reliquary in the chapel to the left of the altar. Stunning frescoes by the Tuscan artist Vincenzo Foppa decorate the chapel and depict scenes from the Life of St Peter Martyr and the Virgin Mary.

The basilica was built to house the supposed relics of the Magi. These are contained in a Roman sarcophagus in the Chapel of the Magi in the right-hand transept of the main church. During the annual Corteo dei Magi procession on 6 January (Epiphany), the relics are carried with great ceremony from the Duomo to Sant’Eustorgio. Beside Sant’Eustorgio, the Museo Diocesano (Corso di Porta Ticinese 95; https://chiostrisanteustorgio.it; Tue–Sun 10am–6pm) is arrayed on three floors of the Dominican convent and cloisters, and showcases 320 works from Sant’Ambrogio (for more information, click here) and other churches in the diocese. Unlike many diocesan museums, which are dull and dusty, Milan’s has been renovated and feels like a stylish new art gallery. The works date from the 6th to the 19th centuries, and, as well as religious paintings, there are sculptures, chalices and jewellery Don’t miss the Fondi Oro collection – exquisite Tuscan and Umbrian altarpieces, all with a gold background.

A rose-lined path through the Parco delle Basiliche (Park of the Basilicas) links Sant’Eustorgio and San Lorenzo. For many centuries public hangings and torture took place here, while tanners’ workshops created a foul stench. Today it is a pleasant park, which affords the best views of the Basilica di San Lorenzo Maggiore , [map] (Corso di Porta Ticinese 39; www.sanlorenzomaggiore.com; Mon–Fri 8am–6.30pm, Sat–Sun 9am–7pm). After the Duomo, this is the second-largest church in the city, distinctive for its huge central dome and the melange of architectural styles. It is also the oldest surviving church in the city, founded in the 4th century as an early Christian church, remodelled in Romanesque form in the 13th century, and reconstructed in the 16th century after the collapse of the dome in 1573. The facade is the newest addition, dating from 1894.

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