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MILAN (Ital. Milano, Ger. Mailand, an...

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 441 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MILAN (Ital. Milano, Ger. Mailand, anc. See also:Mediolanum, q.v.)  , a See also:city of See also:Lombardy, See also:Italy, See also:capital of the See also:province of See also:Milan, 93 M. by See also:rail E.N.E. of See also:Turin . Pop . (1881), 321,839; (1906), 560,613 . It is the seat of an See also:archbishop, the headquarters of the II. See also:army See also:corps, the See also:chief See also:financial centre of Italy and the wealthiest manufacturing and commercial See also:town in the See also:country . It stands on the little See also:river Olona, near the See also:middle of the Lombard See also:plain, 400 ft. above See also:sea-level . The plain around Milan is extremely fertile, owing at once to the richness of the alluvial See also:soil deposited by the Po, See also:Ticino, Olona and See also:Adda, and to the excellent See also:system of See also:irrigation . Seen from the See also:top of the See also:cathedral, the plain presents the See also:appearance of a vast See also:garden divided into square plots by rows of mulberry or See also:poplar trees . To the See also:east this plain stretches in an unbroken level, as far as the See also:eye can follow it, towards See also:Venice and the Adriatic; on the See also:southern See also:side the See also:line of the See also:Apennines from See also:Bologna to See also:Genoa closes the view; to the See also:west rise the Maritime, Cottian and Graian See also:Alps, with See also:Monte Viso as their central point; while northward are the Pennine, Helvetic and Rhaetian Alps, of which Monte See also:Rosa, the Saasgrat and Monte Leone are the most conspicuous features . In the plain itself See also:lie many small villages; and here and there a larger town like See also:Monza or See also:Saronno, or a See also:great See also:building like the Certosa of See also:Pavia, makes a See also:white point upon the greenery . The See also:climate is changeable and trying; in summer it is intensely hot, in See also:winter very See also:cold . See also:Snow is often seen, and the thermometer is frequently below freezing-point . In shape Milan is a fairly See also:regular See also:polygon, and its See also:focus is the splendid Piazza del Duomo, from which a number of broad See also:modern streets radiate in all directions .

These streets are connected by an inner circle of boulevards, constructed just outside the See also:

canal, which marks the site of the town See also:moat . The See also:arches of Porta Nuova are almost the last trace of the inner See also:circuit, constructed after the destruction of the city by See also:Frederick See also:Barbarossa, to which also belonged the Porta dei Fabbri, demolished in 1900 . Curious reliefs from the Porta See also:Romana are to be seen in the museum . Within this circle the See also:majority of the streets are narrow and crooked, while those between it and the bastions, though broader on the whole, have but little regularity . An See also:outer circle of boulevards, planted with trees and commanding the view of the suburbs, lies just beyond the See also:present walls of the city, erected by the Spaniards in the 16th See also:century; the entire length of these boulevards is traversed by an electric See also:tramway 7 M. See also:long . Occupying one end of the Piazza del Duomo is the famous cathedral . It is built of See also:brick cased in See also:marble from the quarries which Gian Galeazzo See also:Visconti gave in See also:perpetuity to the cathedral See also:chapter . It was begun in 1386 . The name of the See also:original architect is unknown, but it is certain that many See also:German See also:master-masons were called to Milan to assist the See also:Italian builders . It was then the largest See also:church in existence, and now, after St See also:Peter's at See also:Rome and the cathedral of See also:Seville, the Duomo of Milan is the largest church in See also:Europe; it covers an See also:area of 14,000 sq. yds. and can hold 40,000 See also:people . The interior is 486 ft. long, 189 ft. wide; the See also:nave is 157 ft. high, and the distance from the See also:pavement to the top of the See also:tower is 356 ft . The See also:style is See also:Gothic, very elaborately decorated, but it shows many peculiarities, for the See also:work was continued through several centuries and after many designs by many masters, notably by Amadeo, who carried out the octagonal See also:cupola (the See also:pinnacle of which See also:dates from 1774), and by Tibaldi, who laid down the pavement and designed a See also:baroque See also:facade .

This last feature was begun after Tibaldi's See also:

design in 1615, but was not finished till 1805, when See also:Napoleon caused the work to be resumed . With its See also:Renaissance windows and portals this facade, though See also:good in itself, was utterly out of keeping with the See also:general style of the church, and in 1900 the removal of the inharmonious features was begun, to be replaced in a style strictly in accordance with the Gothic style of the See also:rest of the building from the designs of Giuseppe See also:Brentano . In shape the church is cruciform, with See also:double aisles to the nave and aisles to the transepts . The roof is supported by fifty-two pillars with canopied niches for statues instead of capitals; the great windows of the See also:choir, reputed to be the largest in the See also:world, are filled with stained See also:glass of 1844 . To the right of the entrance is the See also:tomb of See also:Arch-See also:bishop Heribert, the See also:champion of Milanese See also:liberty, while beside him rests Archbishop See also:Otto Visconti, the founder of that See also:family as a reigning See also:house . The large See also:bronze See also:candelabrum in the See also:left See also:transept is said to be 13th century work . In a See also:crypt under the choir lies the See also:body of the See also:cardinal See also:saint Carlo See also:Borromeo, who consecrated the cathedral in 1577 . It is contained in a See also:rock-crystal See also:shrine, encased in See also:silver, and is vested in full pontifical See also:robes blazing with jewels . The roof of the cathedral is built of blocks of marble, and the various levels are reached by staircases carried up the buttresses; it is ornamented with a profusion of turrets, pinnacles and statues, of which last there are said to be no fewer than 4440, of very various styles and periods . In front of the cathedral rises a See also:colossal bronze equestrian statue of See also:Victor See also:Emmanuel II . There are two noteworthy palaces in the Piazza del Duomo . The first is the Palazzo Reale dating from 1772, but occupying the site of the earliest See also:mansion of the Viscontis and the See also:Sforza; its great See also:hall is a handsome chamber with a See also:gallery supported by See also:caryatides .

Built into the See also:

palace is the See also:ancient church of See also:San Gottardo, a Romanesque building which was built by Azzone Visconti in 1328-1339, and was the See also:scene of the See also:murder of Giovanni Maria Visconti in 1412 . Its campanile is a beautiful example of See also:early Lombard terra-See also:cotta work . The second palace is that of the archbishops, the See also:fine facade of which is the work of Fabio Magnone . It has an older See also:north See also:colonnade, by some attributed to See also:Bramante, but, like many other buildings, without sufficient See also:evidence, and a fine See also:court with double colonnades by Tibaldi, towhom the back facade is due . The Palazzo della Ragione, erected in the Piazza dei Mercanti, just west ofthe Piazza del Duomo, the central point of the See also:medieval city, in 1223—1238 by the See also:podesta, Oldrado da Tresseno, whose equestrian portrait in high See also:relief adorns it, still exists in fine preservation . It is a brick edifice with a See also:portico on the ground See also:floor and a large hall on the upper . See also:Close by to the See also:south is the beautiful Loggia degli Osii, erected in 1316, with two loggie or open portico, one above the other, in See also:black and white marble . Among the most interesting buildings in Milan is the ancient church of S . Ambrogio . Here St See also:Ambrose baptized St See also:Augustine; here he closed the doors against the See also:emperor See also:Theodosius after his cruel See also:massacre at Thessalonica; here the Lombard See also:kings and the early German emperors caused themselves to be crowned with the See also:iron See also:crown of Lombardy, and the See also:pillar at which they took their See also:coronation oaths is preserved under the See also:lime-trees in the piazza . The church was built by St Ambrose early in the 4th-century (on the site of a See also:temple of Bacchus it is said), but as it stands it is a Romanesque See also:basilica of the 12th century, recently well restored (like many other churches in Milan), with a brick exterior, like so many churches of Milan and Lombardy, curious galleries over the facade, and perhaps the most perfectly preserved See also:atrium in existence . The wooden See also:door belongs to the original 4th century church; it has carvings with scenes from the See also:life of See also:David .

In a great silver reliquary (modern) in the crypt lie the bones of St Ambrose, above which rises the high See also:

altar, which retains its original decorations, the only intact example of its See also:period (835) . These consist of reliefs in See also:gold and silver enriched with See also:enamel and gems, and are the work of one Vuolfvinus, a German . The baldacchino, with sculptures of the 12th or early 13th century, is See also:borne by four ancient columns of See also:porphyry, with 9th-century capitals . In the See also:tribune are fine mosaics of the 9th century, which, See also:Burckhardt remarks, completely break with See also:Byzantine tradition . In the side See also:chapel of S . Satiro are even earlier mosaics (5th century) ; there are also fine frescoes by See also:Borgognone and Bernardino Lanini . The lofty brick campanile (789–824) is among the earliest in Italy, and is decorated with coloured See also:majolica disks . The court of the neighbouring canonica is by Bramante, and so also may be the design of the cloisters of the monastery of S . Ambrogio, now the military See also:hospital . S . Lorenzo, in the south portion of the town, dates from before A.D . 538, thus being practically contemporary with S .

Vitale at See also:

Ravenna (though Burckhardt considers it to belong to about A.D . 300, and to be a See also:part of the thermae or palace of Maximian), but was burnt down and restored in 1071 (in the restoration Corinthian capitals were used as bases) . See also:Thirty-three years later part of it collapsed, and a second See also:fire followed in 1124 . It was restored, but collapsed again in 1573, and a great part of it had to be re-constructed, including the See also:dome (1574–1591) . (The chapel of S . Aquilino, possibly a part of the original structure, contains mosaics of the 5th or 6th century.) In See also:plan the church is an octagon, supported at the corners by four square towers in brick-work, which belong to the original structure . The interior with its two orders is a very fine one, and its See also:influence on Renaissance architects has been very considerable . S . Eustorgio, one of the largest Gothic churches in Milan, with some Romanesque survivals, dates, as it stands, with its campanile, from the end of the 13th century, and has a modern facade in the old style . It has some interesting medieval See also:works of See also:sculpture, and a fine chapel (Cappella Portinari), with a good dome and a beautiful See also:frieze of angels, built by Michelozzo in 1462–1468, and containing the splendid sculptured tomb (a marble See also:sarcophagus with reliefs, supported by statues) of Peter See also:Martyr (q.v.), the masterpiece of Giovanni di Balduccio of See also:Pisa (1339) ; the walls of the chapel are decorated with important frescoes by Vincenzo See also:Foppa of See also:Brescia . S . Simpliciano, too, though originally Romanesque, is now in the See also:main Gothic, and has been much altered .

S . Vincenzo in See also:

Prato (833), now restored to its basilican See also:form, with nave and two aisles divided by columns and three apses, and with small, See also:flat arcading on the exterior, which is in See also:brickwork; S . Satiro, founded in 879; S . Babila, also restored to its original form, &c., are interesting for their Romanesque See also:architecture . The small domed structure on the left of S . Satiro is earlier than the church, while the campanile is part of the original structure, though pre-ceded in date by that of S . Ambrogio, which is one of the earliest genuine campanili in Italy (789–824) . The reconstruction of the church of S . Satiro was Bramante's earliest work in Milan (after 1476) . The choir is painted in See also:perspective (there was no See also:room to build one), the earliest example of this See also:device, which was so frequently used in baroque architecture . The octagonal See also:sacristy (before 1488), with niches below and a gallery above, with See also:stucco decorations by Bramante himself (the frieze with putti and See also:medal-lions is ascribed to Caradosso), is a masterly work, and one of his best . The Cistercian See also:abbey-church of Chiaravalle, 5z m. south of Milan, is a fine brick building in the plan of a Latin See also:cross, with nave and two aisles with See also:round pillars, with a lofty domed tower, in the so-called Romanesque Transition style, having comparatively slender round pillars and cross vaulting, while the exterior is still quite Romanesque .

It was founded in 1135 by St See also:

Bernard and consecrated in 1221 . It is interesting as the See also:model for the plan of many other churches in Lombardy, e.g . S . Maria del See also:Carmine and S . See also:Francesco in Pavia . S . Marco, modernized inside, still retains a beautiful facade of 1254 and a tower—in brick as elsewhere—and contains another tomb by Balduccio . S . Maria Incoronata is unique as a double Gothic church, in the See also:horizontal sense (1451–1487) . Of the See also:secular buildings of the beginning of the 15th century, the most notable is the Palazzo Borromeo, which still preserves its Gothic courtyard . It has a good collection of Lombard pictures . At no great distance from S .

Ambrogio, in the Corso See also:

Magenta, is the church of See also:Santa Maria delle Grazie, built by the See also:Dominicans about 1460, to which the Gothic facade and nave belong . The choir, See also:crossing, and beautiful sixteen-sided dome, with the elegant See also:external decorations in terra-cotta and marble, are by Bramante (c . 1492) . Adjoining the church is the See also:convent, long used as See also:barracks . Leading from the fine cloisters, also the work of Bramante, is the former See also:refectory, on the walls of which Leonardo da See also:Vinci painted his celebrated " Last Supper," a work which is unfortunately in a See also:bad See also:state of preservation . Farther along the Corso, but nearer the Piazza del Duomo, is San Maurizio, the interior of which is covered by exceedingly effective frescoes by See also:Luini and his contemporaries . The interior was erected by Giovanni Dolcebuono, a See also:pupil of Bramante, to whom is also due S . Maria presso S . Celso (the interior and the baroque facade are by See also:Alessi) . Thence the Via Bollo leads to the Piazza della Rosa, in which is situated the renowned Biblioteca Ambrosiana, erected in 1603–1609 by Fabio Manzone, to whom the Palazzo del Senato is also due, See also:rich in See also:MSS . In the same building there is also a picture gallery, in which is See also:Raphael's See also:cartoon for his See also:fresco the " School of See also:Athens " in the Vatican . Situated just within the Naviglio, the canal encircling the inner town (adjacent to San Nazar(); which contains Bernardino Lanini's [ft .

15461 masterpiece, the " Martyrdom of St See also:

Catherine "), is the Ospedale See also:Maggiore . This institution, which can accommodate 2400 patients, was founded in the reign of Francesco Sforza . The See also:principal court (there are nine in all) is surrounded by fine arcades of the 17th century by Ricchini . The entire edifice is covered externally with terra-cotta, and its facade, designed by the Florentine See also:Antonio Averulino (Filarete) and begun in 1457, is See also:superior to any other of the See also:kind in Milan . The city is rich in works of See also:art, for Milan, with the introduction of the early Renaissance style by Filarete and Michelozzo after 1450, became the See also:home of a Lombard school of sculpture, among the chief masters of which may be mentioned Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, or Omodeo,l of Pavia (1447-1522), Cristoforo Solari, and, the last of them, See also:Agostino Busti, known as Bambaia (c . 1480-1548), whose work may be seen in the cathedrals of See also:Como and Milan and in the Certosa di Pavia . Subsequently, towards the close of the 15th century, the refined court of Lodovico Sforza attracted such celebrated men as Bramante, the architect, Gauffino Franchino, the founder of one of the earliest musical See also:academies, and Leonardo da Vinci, from whose school came Luini, Boltraffio, Gaudenzio See also:Ferrari, Marco d'Oggiono, &c . Later, Pellegrino Tibaldi and Galeazzo Alessi of Genoa (the former a See also:man of very wide activity) were the chief architects, and Leone Leoni of See also:Arezzo the chief sculptor . In still more See also:recent times See also:Beccaria (1738-1794) as a jurist, Monti (1754-1828) as a poet and See also:Manzoni (1785-1873) as a novelist, have won for the Milanese a high reputation . The picture gallery of the Brera, one of the finest in Italy, occupies an imposing palace with a good courtyard by Ricchini . It was built as a Jesuit See also:college in 1651, but since 1776 has been the seat of the Accademia di Belle Arti, and contains besides See also:die picture gallery a library of some 300,000 volumes, a collection of coins numbering about 6o,000, and an excellent See also:observatory founded in 1766 . The Brera Gallery, the See also:nucleus of which was formed in 1806, possesses Raphael's famous " Sposalizio," and many pictures and frescoes by Luini, Guadenzio Ferrari and Bramantino; the collection of the works of Carlo See also:Crivelli (ft .

Phoenix-squares

1480) affords an instructive survey of his work, which connects the Paduan school with the Venetian, here particularly well represented by works of See also:

Paolo Veronese, See also:Paris See also:Bordone, See also:Gentile See also:Bellini, Cima da See also:Conegliano, Bonifazio, See also:Moroni and See also:Carpaccio . Additions are continually made to it . The See also:Castel Sforzesco, or See also:Castle of Milan, stands in the Parco Nuovo; it was built in 1450 by Francesco Sforza on the site of one erected by Galeazzo II . Visconti (1355–1378) and demolished in 1447 by the populace after the See also:death of Filippo . Maria Visconti . After suffering many vicissitudes and being partially destroyed more than once, it was restored—including especially the splendid entrance tower by Antonio Averulino (Filarete, 1451–1453) destroyed by a See also:powder See also:explosion in 1521—in the 15th-century style ' See F . Malaguzzi Valeri, G . A . Amadeo, scultore e architetto (See also:Bergamo, 1905).in 1893 sqq., and it is now a most imposing See also:pile . Some of the fine windows with their terra-cotta decorations are preserved . The archaeological museum is housed here on the ground floor; besides See also:Roman and pre-Roman See also:objects it contains fragments of the 9th century basilica of Santa Maria in Aurona, one of the first examples of vaulted Lombard architecture; the bas-reliefs of the ancient Porta Romana of Milan, representing the return of the Milanese in 1171 after the defeat of Barbarossa; the remains of the church of Santa Maria in Brera, the work of Balduccio da Pisa ; the grandiose sepulchral See also:monument of Bernabo Visconti formerly in the church of San Giovanni in See also:Conca; the tomb of See also:Regina della Scala, the wife of Bernabo; the funeral monument of the Rusca family; the great portal of the palace of Pigello Portinari, seat of the Banco Mediceo at Milan, a work of Michelozzo; a See also:series of Renaissance sculptures, including works by Amadeo Mantegazza, Agostino Busti (surnamed Bambaia), including fragments of the tomb of Gaston de See also:Foix . Several of the rooms occupied by the archaeological museum See also:bear traces of the decorations executed under Galeazzo Maria and Lodovico it See also:Moro, and one of them has a splendid See also:ceiling with trees in full foliage, painted so as to See also:cover the whole vaulting, ascribed to Leonardo da Vinci .

In the upper rooms is placed a large collection of Milanese and central Italian See also:

ceramics, stuffs, See also:furniture, bronzes, ivories, enamels, glass and See also:historical See also:relics; together with a picture gallery containing works by Vincenzo Foppa, Gianpietrino, Boltraffio, Crivelli, See also:Pordenone, See also:Morone, Cariani, See also:Correggio, Antonello da See also:Messina, See also:Tiepolo, See also:Guardi, See also:Potter, See also:Van Dyck and See also:Ribeira . The finest of the modern thoroughfares of Milan is the Via See also:Dante, constructed in 1888; it runs from the Piazza de' Mercanti to the spacious Foro See also:Bonaparte, and thence to the Parco Nuovo, the great public garden in which stands the See also:Castello Sforzesco . This See also:park was once a See also:national drilling ground, which was taken over by the See also:municipality with a view to erecting upon it a new residential See also:quarter, rendered necessary by the phenomenal growth of the city during the last twenty-five years of the 19th century . This design was happily abandoned, and around the Parco Nuovo has grown up a new quarter of wide streets, spacious gardens and private villas . To the north of the castle is the See also:Arena, a kind of See also:circus erected by Napoleon in 18o5; while facing the castle on the opposite side of the park is the Arco della See also:Pace, begun by Napoleon in 1806 from the designs of See also:Cagnola to See also:mark the beginning of the Simplon Road, but finished by the Austrians in 1833 . Leading east-north-east from the Piazza del Duomo, the centre of Milanese See also:traffic, especially of electric trams, is the Corso See also:Vittorio Emanuele . Connecting the piazza with the neighbouring Piazza della Scala is the famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, a great See also:arcade in the form of a Latin cross, with an octagon in the centre, crowned at the height of 16o ft. with a glass cupola; it is roofed with glass throughout, and is 320 yds. long, 16 yds. wide and 94 ft. high . It has splendid facades at each end, and was constructed in 1865-1867 at the cost of £320,000; it is the finest of its kind in Europe . In the Via Morone near the Piazza della Scala is a collection of art treasures bequeathed to the town in 1879 by a Milanese patrician, the See also:Cavaliere Poldi-Pezzoli . It comprises valuable pictures, textile fabrics, arms, See also:armour and a number of antiquities, and is exhibited in the house once occupied by the founder . In the middle of the neighbouring Piazza della Scala stands Magni's monument of Leonardo da Vinci (1872), Opposite is the celebrated Teatro della Scala, built in 1778 on the site of a church founded by See also:Beatrice della Scala, wife of Bernabo Visconti . After the San Carlo at See also:Naples it is the largest See also:theatre in Europe, and can seat 3600 spectators .

Looking on to the piazza is the fine Palazzo See also:

Marino, the seat of the municipality since 1861; it was built by Galeazzo Alessi in 1558, to whom the side facade and the court are due, but was not completed until 1890, when the main facade was erected by Luca Beltrami . S . Fedele by Tibaldi (1569) is close by . Milan has a royal scientific and See also:literary See also:aca