Milan, 15 August 2019, day 2
A full day in Milan was scheduled for visiting Il Duomo, Castello Sforzesco and the Last Supper. I booked the tickets from Toronto and the first visit was scheduled for 8 am. I fumbled with the metro directions and we were there at 8:20 based on my watch. The whole plaza was empty and the cathedral was close. Then I realized I didn't change the time from Romania (one hour in advance) and started to take pictures of the plaza and of the nearby market - Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Emma was sleepy and I promised her that after visiting the dome we will find something to eat.Il Duomo has the cornucopia of the same personages and themes of the church. I was impressed with the large stained glasses, the navel raised on long columns with human sculptures at the top. Were they real personages in life or fictional characters?
Walking the church, in the insets in the wall, a few sculptures impressed me - three black marble characters, one man and two women, warriors. I have to find more info about them. The organ, found at the back of the church looked as house inside the church, as an adagio in the life of the church. Next time I will visit the top of the church and the museum for the Dome.
We got out of the church and stopped in Cardona for Sforzesco palace. It was not initially on my list but the next visit (Last Supper) was at 2 pm.
Milan seems to not be infatuated with the history, although Leonardo, Michelangelo and other famous artists worked here a lot. In the Sforza castle's exhibitions you can see Pieta Rondanini by Michelangelo, The arboretum by Leonardo, the Salla del Asse painted by Leonardo, Codex Trivulzianus by Leonardo and many paintings from various masters are all proofs of a intensive artistic life in the city. Leonardo had architected dwellings, designed arms and many other tools while employed there and was involved in the organization of the city. His time as an artist was coveted by nobility and he was the one pulling characters (nobles and royals) out of history due to his depicting art.
It was not the first time we visited a museum split on many periods and also centered on a main historical figure (like Dali in Spain).
I started to be bored by art used by church as a propaganda. Biblical motives, the saints' lives and even conflicts are not impressive after 2000 years. Yes, they have ripples in today life through the church scholars' work, but real life is so much richer. In Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco paintings I saw a few Canalletos, Titian and many less known painters' work. One of the surprises was the famous names of the pictures where in fact nicknames (detto, in Italian, called as...). From all church sponsored paintings only a few impressed me by the human figures and compositions. You immediately remark a broken pattern in subjects and Canaletto was one of them (also large canvases, many people, a frozen piece of reality a few centuries again).
A pleasant surprise in Sforza's art display was an exhibition of furniture. Designer pieces, furniture awarded at the beginning of the century. The variety of shapes and the beauty of detail was a reprieve from dark mood of the somber paintings.
Rondanini Pieta was also a pilgrimage place, it was placed in a room, all for itself. It was not the first time where in museums, you find a room with only one exhibit. The room had many chairs/benches and it was packed. Many people were just discussing or looking intensely to the sculpture. How many of them were coming prepared to absorb the art as an experience, how many of them were just resting, how many did have a reference to indeed analyze the sculpture. The whole conundrum in my head was about tourism as a form of living or art consumption in modern days.
We are driven by the internet in finding places, events or art exhibitions and already prepped of what to expect. Is any education required to come and visit those places and have a drive to continue to do it? Are you experiencing more than enumerating facts about something you visited, than what you read on the pamphlets released locally by the tourism agencies? Experiencing art and understanding the context of it becomes more than a stroll with a piece of paper or listening to explanations. Especially in Italy I encountered mini-shows/movies/documentaries creating the context and enlarging the memory footprint of the art item you were visiting. Salla del Asse at Sforza's castle was one of them, visiting Foro Romano in Rome during the night was also impressive.
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