Royal Palace of Milan
Encyclopedia
The Royal Palace of Milan (Italian: Palazzo Reale di Milano) was the seat of government of the Italian city of Milan
for many centuries, but today is an important cultural centre, home to expositions and exhibitions.
Originally designed with a system of two yards, then partially demolished to make way for the Duomo, the palace is located to the right of the facade of the cathedral in the opposite position with respect to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
. The facade of the building, following the line of the ancient courtyard, forming a recess with respect to Piazza del Duomo
, known as the Piazzetta Reale (English: Small Royal square).
Of particular importance is to remember the Hall of Caryatids on the first floor of the building, which occupies the site of the old theatre burned in 1776 and is the only environment survived the heavy bombing of the 1943 when he lost the neoclassical interiors.
.
The palace became the political centre during the ladies of the families Torriani, Visconti and effort, where after the construction of the Cathedral, was an important renovation, under the government of Francesco Sforza.
, which until then had received the official residence of the Dukes of Milan had become increasingly weapons more suited to a fortress than a pleasant building representation. It was under French rule of Louis XII
before and François I
, which proceeded to move the seat of the court by the current Royal Palace.
It will however only with the Spanish period that we see a full flowering of the whole work, thanks to the arrival in town the Governor Ferrante Gonzaga
which takes permanent residence in the city from 1546, raising the ducal court a veritable palace of the governor's residence in Milan. Gonzaga will be the first to inaugurate the work to achieve the boardrooms of the complex, restoring the body also place the building between the courtyard and the garden entrusted to the work of Domenico Giunti. The hotel welcomes in a first step the other representative bodies in the country that are received in the two side arms of the structure giving the Senate housing Regi citizen to the courts, the ordinary judges and to the extraordinary.
To pursue these projects, we know that the governor Gonzaga demolished the old church of Sant'Andrea al shattered wall, annexing the land area of the building, while an interior road and enclosed courtyard leading from the church of San Gottardo that will increasingly function as Palatine Chapel.
New renovations of the building came down at the end of the 16th century with the arrival of Governor Antonio de Guzman y Zuniga, Marquis of Ayamonte, which is able to recruit Pellegrino Tibaldi
, the architect of confidence of the archbishop Charles Borromeo
, already engaged in the work of the Duomo in the archbishop's palace and the courtyard of the royalties. Tibaldi worked on the construction of the building from 1573 in 1598 and were in these years which completely rebuilt the pictorial decoration of the apartments noble porticos, of the private chapel and the church of San Gottardo. Collaborate in this undertaking the greatest artists of the time: Aurelio Luini
, Ambrose Figino, Antonio Fields and of course the same Pellegrino Tibaldi
, while other works were stucco and grotesque built by Valerio Profondavalle, a Flemish artist-impresario who had also produced some windows for the Duomo of Milan.
This was the era when it was also created the first Court Theater, now in theatres including the Archbishop, the beginning of a long process that will end only in the 18th century with the final construction of La Scala.
After the War of Spanish Succession, Milan
definitively passed to the Austrians that in 1717 sent you the first governor, the Count of Loewenstein that since April 26 of that year started work on the construction of a new ducal theater, bigger and harmonious than its predecessor, with four tiers of boxes and a gallery, all prepared with the typical pattern with a horseshoe pit. The project was entrusted to Francesco Galli Bibbiena, which also employs his students Giandomenico Barbieri and Domenico Valmagini for its development. The structure was completed on 26 December 1717 and was inaugurated with the work of F. Gasparini Constantine. Next to this theatre in the Palace are redoubts dedicated to gambling, the sale of sweets and soft drinks as well as masks and costumes for the holiday gala.
A new fire hit the building in 1723 and this time it looks disastrous, especially for ceremonial halls. It will be the Governor Wirich Philipp von Daun to inaugurate the new renovations so trying to make more decent the palace, the courtyard of paint to remove the sombre aspect prison had assumed that the structure in the 17th century painting the walls white and framed the windows with jambs barocchetto designed by Charles Rinaldi. The church of San Gottardo now becomes a full "Director-Ducal Chapel", getting new internal ridipitture accompanied by the addition of stucco and gilding.
At this time inside the courtyard were the Office of the Chancellor, the ordinary and the extraordinary Magistrate, the Magistrate of Health, National Coin, the offices of the Contadora Veedoria General and Main, in addition to 'Offizio the Half Year. All these offices, although they had purely administrative tasks, managed without the revenue and expenditure of the State and resolving disputes through the courts within the boundaries of the duchy. The state government was instead placed in the new rooms built on the north side of the garden where he met the Privy Council chaired by the governor, even if that institution had severely limited the power of the will of real government residing in Vienna
.
In this same period, the main floor are restored the Hall of feasting and the Audience (which now takes the name of the Hall of Emperors). The governor and the governor staying in the new rooms overlooking the northern and southern sides of the Garden. In the apartments of representation, in 1739, is also housed Maria Theresa of Austria
in his visit to the duchy of Milan.
At the same time the new rooms were restored around the garden thanks to the architect Francis Cross (famous for its time and already active in the factory of the Duomo in Milan, in the cupola of the Madonna), the system in which some of these rooms new tapestries Raphael Manufacturing Goblin
specially ordered for the palace.
The most significant change was made with the union in the Hall of the Emperors with that Festini resulting in a huge ballroom 46 feet long by 17 wide (now Hall of Caryatids), incorporating the shorter sides of the boxes room for orchestras.
Another model of the Pallavicini introduction to the court in Milan will be theSalle à manger,a room intended only for lunches and gala dinners, according to a French fashion at the time still unknown in Milan. The new room to be functional, was obtained by changing a room that looked out on the north side of the small courtyard of the palace, who was communicating with the underlying kitchens and therefore easy to reach from food. In 1752, anyway, before leaving Milan, Pallavicini managed to sell most of the Royal House of the furniture she had brought to the palace, and as such they became state property.
teresa.
A first project of restoration of the building was laid by Emperor Joseph II
already during his visit to Milan on 26 June 1769 on which had initially thought of using even the architect Luigi Vanvitelli
to implement the project but perhaps also because of lack of funds needed to complete the work, the building was left unchanged.
Ferdinand of Habsburg-Lorraine, a son of Maria Theresa, 15 October 1771, married in the cathedral of Milan Maria Beatrice d'Este, who became the new governor of the Ontario in Austria, with duty then to take permanent residence in the Palazzo Reale. Probably influenced by the desire to compete with the large houses in Europe (first of all that of his brother at Schönbrunn). The initial idea of Ferdinand was to build a new royal palace where he resides, leaving the old building to accommodate offices of government that were widening. With this in mind, he moved with his wife Palazzo Clerici pending the approval of a compromise: the old building was then refurbished to finally have something worthy of reception of the Archduke and many offices would be transferred elsewhere to make way for the court.
Meanwhile, in 1771 take place at Palazzo Reale some holiday for the wedding of Archduke Ferdinand including the recitation ofThe Insubria comfortedby Maria Teresa Agnesi
and the staging 'sAscanio in Alba
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
, which is also engaged in first as the Master of the Court in Milan, only to be rejected by the Empress Maria Theresa, who will send a letter to his son.
The work officially began in 1773 under the direction of Giuseppe Piermarini
, supported by Leopold Pollack sent from Vienna to control costs and to become the pupil. The first act of the new architect will be to immediately lift the side of the courtyard to the Cathedral, with the other three, creating the so-called Royal Piazetta, then the largest square of the Cathedral. Actually this was one of the solutions proposed restructuring by Nicholas Pacassi, the real architect of the Viennese court. The renovation of the building was indeed very troubled and Piermarini had to balance the demands of style and especially the economy of Maria Theresa of Austria
and his architect with the needs and expectations of future residents: the prince and wife who refused to leave the palace Clerici if the restructuring did not take account of their desires. Externally, Piermarini gave a sober and austere character of the building, detached from the Baroque
and inaugurated on neoclassical
in Milan. In front, the medieval walls are properly into the openings, plastered and divided by stone pilasters, remain the three original plans (Vienna wanted to spend as little as possible). The centre of the body of honour, slightly protruding, is reinforced by entering four large semi and a triple portal surmounted by a balcony. Wreath was also laid on a great central crest and a series of statues and trophies (never realized).
Striking the pavement of the new square built at the "authorized" and patterns of granite with a beautiful diamond pattern.
In full swing of work, the night of 26 February 1776, burned again the Court Theatre. It was decided to remove the theatre (always a fire risk) and within two years was built the famous Teatro Alla Scala in a different area of the city, which became one of, if not the first public opera house in the world. The space of the building formerly occupied by the ducal theater was used for the reception of new shows to represent and extend westward to the Garden. A theater of the court, however, we wanted to, so we demolished the nearby schools Cannobiana and, again designed by Piermarini, we build the theatre Cannobiana that had facade on Via Larga (the rising of the current Tear Lyric).
Even within the building undergoes many transformations, leading to a local distribution remained almost unchanged until later today. The largest-scale enterprise is undoubtedly represented by the famous Hall of Caryatids. Is simultaneously restored the ducal chapel of St. Gotthard getting a new altar and decoration inerna neoclassical style. It is saved only the bell tower, considered a model of architectural beauty of the idea of the time of Azzone Visconti.
Archduke of both new orders to buy more Gobelin tapestries with the stories of Jason
and those of Raphael Pallavicini. Internally the rooms are decorated in stucco by 'Albertolli, painted by Julian Traballesi and Martin Knoller, a cycle of works that will end only in the 19th century due to the intervention of Andrea Appiani
before and Francesco Hayez
then.
The work of building a Piermarini officially ends on 17 June 1778, when the Archduke Ferdinand Palazzo Clerici leave to go to live in the new Palazzo Reale.
conquered and annexed it in spirit to France with the formation of the Cisalpine Republic
. The Regio-Ducal Palace, therefore, called the National Palace and became the seat of the main governing bodies of the new republic, namely the military command, first and then the Directory.
When the Austro-Russians to regain control of Milan in 1799, the French government will be forced to hastily sell most of the furnishings of the building at auction as well as allowing the looting of other halls of the population.
It will only be in 1805 that the building will again rise, inter alia, reaching its peak of splendor. It would indeed be in the same year that Milan will become the capital of the newborn Kingdom of Italy
consisting of Napoleon's adopted son Eugène de Beauharnais
who was appointed Viceroy and take residence right in Milan's Palazzo Reale. Milan is the capital of a vast kingdom that includes all of northern Italy and as such also the home of the new government needs to be worthy of this privilege.
It is therefore repair damage caused by war and purchase new furnishings and lavish the same Eugène de Beauharnais about enlargement of the building at the rear thanks to a project entrusted to Luigi Canonica
, which adds to the entire block now occupied by the council offices where they are fitted to the new stables, a large riding school and many local offices, all in austere neo-classical style (the project was completed years later by Tazzini that was also the author of the facade on Via Larga) from handling, known as "The Lady Knight" and the place of horse shows, was entered through a bridge on the court theater Restrelli (theatre Cannobiana) to Andrea Appiani
was given the completion of the frescoes in the halls of representation that will be opened l '8 May 1805 during an official visit to Napoleon at Milan.
With the fall of Napoleon in 1814, the kingdom of Italy in Milan toppled the huge palace begins a slight loss of importance, immediately recovered with the restoration. Under the Austrians, was formed on Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia and as such the Palazzo Reale in Milan will serve as the seat of the new viceroy of a wide realm. Adelaide, Queen of Sardinia was born here in 1822.
, resided mainly in the Villa Reale di Monza and how this little trodden ground of Milan and after his assassination in 1900 the son Vittorio Emanuele III will tend to stay away from hot environments Milan. The last official receipt dates back to 1906 for the Universal Exhibition.
In 1919 the last official visit to the palace was that of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
, who was welcomed in Milan by Victor Emmanuel III of Savoy. On October 11 of that same year, the palace was sold by the House of Savoy to the Italian state, however, on the condition that the apartments remain available to the royal family.
With the sale to the public land Averre the second massacre at the palace Piermarini. The first was the case in the creation of the new Piazza del Duomo, when it shortened the sleeves east of the palace is spoiling the proportions of the palace square.
Second havoc, aveviene neglianni '30, when is shortened by at least another 60 metres, the so-called "long sleeves" to build the Arengario. This has definitely ruined beauty of the building, linked largely to the proportional relationships between the bodies. Same goes for the square. Other destruction of the 1925 include when they demolished the bodies of the Canon
and Tazzini to build the municipal offices.
The whole building was heavily damaged during the night of 15 August 1943 when the city was hit by a bombardment English against the Nazi occupiers. In fact the bombs were not directly hit the building, but it was destroyed by fire unleashed in neighbouring buildings that erode the attic of the Hall of Cariatidi, burning the wood warping and causing the collapse of large trusses that in their fall overwhelm the time, the balcony and split in several places and the floor. The high temperature in the room overheated unleashed stucco and turned the color and the constituent material, permanently ruining the famous hall, including Appiani paintings that were kept.
Will be after the war in 1947 that the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage will give the start to the work of recovery of the building and specifically the Hall of Caryatids. It is thus achieved a new flooring and a new roof of the hall floor, without the reconstruction of earlier decorations (of which, however, has ample documentation) in the choice of leaving a testimony of the war in Milan.
The room repurchases great reputation from 1953 when, in a show of Picasso in Milan
, the Catalan artist chooses it as the venue to welcome his work, Guernica, with a clear symbolic purpose.
Only from 2000, moreover, the room has regained the actual former glory with a very careful restoration that has removed the blackening on the walls caused by the fire of the 1943 and ordered consolidating all surfaces (structural and painting). On the cover of the ceiling, previously white, have been reported to drawing sketches of how the ceiling of the room had to appear before the collapse.
Although still under the third stage of restoration, which will return the entire building to its former glory, the first two batches are completed, allowing visitors the chance to admire the halls of the Palace Museum in therearrangedwith an itinerary through the four seasons of the historic Palazzo: the era Teresiana and Neoclassical
, the Napoleonic era, the Restoration and l 'Unification of Italy.
The restoration took place through a complex task of reconstruction of the original furniture to allow a wider and more articulate historical and stylistic reading of court life. The first visible halls belonging to the neoclassical period, ranging from reconstruction of Piermarini to Napoleonic times, are those that best explain the splendor of an era "enlightened" in which the city had a major role in Europe.
The third phase of restoration still in progress will return to the museum rooms of the old apartmentreserve, in which they are documented and maintained the royal ways of living of the 19th century.
.
The building played an important role with regard to art in Milan, as shown by the great success of the exhibition of recent years that have included Claude Monet
, Pablo Picasso
and other painters and sculptors. Fundamental is the exhibition opened at the Palazzo Reale in 2009 on the centenary of the birth of Futurism
.
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
for many centuries, but today is an important cultural centre, home to expositions and exhibitions.
Originally designed with a system of two yards, then partially demolished to make way for the Duomo, the palace is located to the right of the facade of the cathedral in the opposite position with respect to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is a double arcade in the center of Milan, Italy. The structure is formed by two glass-vaulted arcades intersecting in an octagon covering the street connecting Piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Scala....
. The facade of the building, following the line of the ancient courtyard, forming a recess with respect to Piazza del Duomo
Piazza del Duomo, Milan
Piazza del Duomo is the main piazza of Milan, Italy. It is named after, and dominated by, the Milan Cathedral . The piazza marks the center of the city, both in a geographic sense and because of its importance from an artistic, cultural, and social point of view...
, known as the Piazzetta Reale (English: Small Royal square).
Of particular importance is to remember the Hall of Caryatids on the first floor of the building, which occupies the site of the old theatre burned in 1776 and is the only environment survived the heavy bombing of the 1943 when he lost the neoclassical interiors.
Origins
Double wire bound with the History of the city, the royal palace has ancient origins. Born with the name of 'Palazzo Vecchio Broletto and is the seat of city government during the period of Commons in the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
The palace became the political centre during the ladies of the families Torriani, Visconti and effort, where after the construction of the Cathedral, was an important renovation, under the government of Francesco Sforza.
16th century
Between the late 15th and early 16th century, with the fall of the government efforts and the French invasion, the Castello SforzescoCastello Sforzesco
Castello Sforzesco is a castle in Milan, Italy, that used to be the seat and residence of the Duchy of Milan and one of the biggest citadels in Europe and now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.-History:...
, which until then had received the official residence of the Dukes of Milan had become increasingly weapons more suited to a fortress than a pleasant building representation. It was under French rule of Louis XII
Louis XII of France
Louis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...
before and François I
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
, which proceeded to move the seat of the court by the current Royal Palace.
It will however only with the Spanish period that we see a full flowering of the whole work, thanks to the arrival in town the Governor Ferrante Gonzaga
Ferrante Gonzaga
Ferrante I Gonzaga was an Italian condottiero, a member of the House of Gonzaga and the founder of the branch of the Gonzaga of Guastalla.-Biography:...
which takes permanent residence in the city from 1546, raising the ducal court a veritable palace of the governor's residence in Milan. Gonzaga will be the first to inaugurate the work to achieve the boardrooms of the complex, restoring the body also place the building between the courtyard and the garden entrusted to the work of Domenico Giunti. The hotel welcomes in a first step the other representative bodies in the country that are received in the two side arms of the structure giving the Senate housing Regi citizen to the courts, the ordinary judges and to the extraordinary.
To pursue these projects, we know that the governor Gonzaga demolished the old church of Sant'Andrea al shattered wall, annexing the land area of the building, while an interior road and enclosed courtyard leading from the church of San Gottardo that will increasingly function as Palatine Chapel.
New renovations of the building came down at the end of the 16th century with the arrival of Governor Antonio de Guzman y Zuniga, Marquis of Ayamonte, which is able to recruit Pellegrino Tibaldi
Pellegrino Tibaldi
Pellegrino Tibaldi , also known as Pellegrino di Tibaldo de Pellegrini, was an Italian mannerist architect, sculptor, and mural painter.-Biography:...
, the architect of confidence of the archbishop Charles Borromeo
Charles Borromeo
Charles Borromeo was the cardinal archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Milan from 1564 to 1584. He was a leading figure during the Counter-Reformation and was responsible for significant reforms in the Catholic Church, including the founding of seminaries for the education of priests...
, already engaged in the work of the Duomo in the archbishop's palace and the courtyard of the royalties. Tibaldi worked on the construction of the building from 1573 in 1598 and were in these years which completely rebuilt the pictorial decoration of the apartments noble porticos, of the private chapel and the church of San Gottardo. Collaborate in this undertaking the greatest artists of the time: Aurelio Luini
Aurelio Luini
thumb|250px|Ol compà Digliagòr and Ol compà Braghetògn , two caricatures. [[Pinacoteca Ambrosiana]], [[Milan]].Aurelio Luini was an Italian painter and draughtsman from Milan, the fourth and last son of Bernardino Luini...
, Ambrose Figino, Antonio Fields and of course the same Pellegrino Tibaldi
Pellegrino Tibaldi
Pellegrino Tibaldi , also known as Pellegrino di Tibaldo de Pellegrini, was an Italian mannerist architect, sculptor, and mural painter.-Biography:...
, while other works were stucco and grotesque built by Valerio Profondavalle, a Flemish artist-impresario who had also produced some windows for the Duomo of Milan.
This was the era when it was also created the first Court Theater, now in theatres including the Archbishop, the beginning of a long process that will end only in the 18th century with the final construction of La Scala.
17th and 18th centuries
The 17th century will be a substantial stall for the yard of the Palazzo Reale and indeed the structure will damage not just because of the wars and the plague. On the night of 24 and 25 January 1695 that will be destroyed in a fire, the Court Theatre, which will mark the interruption of theatrical institution in Milan almost two decades.After the War of Spanish Succession, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
definitively passed to the Austrians that in 1717 sent you the first governor, the Count of Loewenstein that since April 26 of that year started work on the construction of a new ducal theater, bigger and harmonious than its predecessor, with four tiers of boxes and a gallery, all prepared with the typical pattern with a horseshoe pit. The project was entrusted to Francesco Galli Bibbiena, which also employs his students Giandomenico Barbieri and Domenico Valmagini for its development. The structure was completed on 26 December 1717 and was inaugurated with the work of F. Gasparini Constantine. Next to this theatre in the Palace are redoubts dedicated to gambling, the sale of sweets and soft drinks as well as masks and costumes for the holiday gala.
A new fire hit the building in 1723 and this time it looks disastrous, especially for ceremonial halls. It will be the Governor Wirich Philipp von Daun to inaugurate the new renovations so trying to make more decent the palace, the courtyard of paint to remove the sombre aspect prison had assumed that the structure in the 17th century painting the walls white and framed the windows with jambs barocchetto designed by Charles Rinaldi. The church of San Gottardo now becomes a full "Director-Ducal Chapel", getting new internal ridipitture accompanied by the addition of stucco and gilding.
At this time inside the courtyard were the Office of the Chancellor, the ordinary and the extraordinary Magistrate, the Magistrate of Health, National Coin, the offices of the Contadora Veedoria General and Main, in addition to 'Offizio the Half Year. All these offices, although they had purely administrative tasks, managed without the revenue and expenditure of the State and resolving disputes through the courts within the boundaries of the duchy. The state government was instead placed in the new rooms built on the north side of the garden where he met the Privy Council chaired by the governor, even if that institution had severely limited the power of the will of real government residing in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
In this same period, the main floor are restored the Hall of feasting and the Audience (which now takes the name of the Hall of Emperors). The governor and the governor staying in the new rooms overlooking the northern and southern sides of the Garden. In the apartments of representation, in 1739, is also housed Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
in his visit to the duchy of Milan.
Pallavicini, the patron of the palace
In 1745 arrives in Milan Gian Luca Pallavicini as governor and minister plenipotentiary of Milan. The Pallavicini was concerned first of risitemazione interior of the palace, leaving room that was completely renovated in its spending, focusing on both the furniture that sull'oggettistica small as porcelain, silver chandeliers.At the same time the new rooms were restored around the garden thanks to the architect Francis Cross (famous for its time and already active in the factory of the Duomo in Milan, in the cupola of the Madonna), the system in which some of these rooms new tapestries Raphael Manufacturing Goblin
Goblin
A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
specially ordered for the palace.
The most significant change was made with the union in the Hall of the Emperors with that Festini resulting in a huge ballroom 46 feet long by 17 wide (now Hall of Caryatids), incorporating the shorter sides of the boxes room for orchestras.
Another model of the Pallavicini introduction to the court in Milan will be theSalle à manger,a room intended only for lunches and gala dinners, according to a French fashion at the time still unknown in Milan. The new room to be functional, was obtained by changing a room that looked out on the north side of the small courtyard of the palace, who was communicating with the underlying kitchens and therefore easy to reach from food. In 1752, anyway, before leaving Milan, Pallavicini managed to sell most of the Royal House of the furniture she had brought to the palace, and as such they became state property.
Renewal: restructuring by Piermarini
In the second half of the 18th, under the rule of Austria, the Royal Palace is a place of lavish court life and sees imporanti artists and architects working on transformations inspired by the BaroqueBaroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
teresa.
A first project of restoration of the building was laid by Emperor Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
already during his visit to Milan on 26 June 1769 on which had initially thought of using even the architect Luigi Vanvitelli
Luigi Vanvitelli
Luigi Vanvitelli was an Italian engineer and architect. The most prominent 18th-century architect of Italy, he practiced a sober classicizing academic Late Baroque style that made an easy transition to Neoclassicism.-Biography:Vanvitelli was born at Naples, the son of a Dutch painter of land and...
to implement the project but perhaps also because of lack of funds needed to complete the work, the building was left unchanged.
Ferdinand of Habsburg-Lorraine, a son of Maria Theresa, 15 October 1771, married in the cathedral of Milan Maria Beatrice d'Este, who became the new governor of the Ontario in Austria, with duty then to take permanent residence in the Palazzo Reale. Probably influenced by the desire to compete with the large houses in Europe (first of all that of his brother at Schönbrunn). The initial idea of Ferdinand was to build a new royal palace where he resides, leaving the old building to accommodate offices of government that were widening. With this in mind, he moved with his wife Palazzo Clerici pending the approval of a compromise: the old building was then refurbished to finally have something worthy of reception of the Archduke and many offices would be transferred elsewhere to make way for the court.
Meanwhile, in 1771 take place at Palazzo Reale some holiday for the wedding of Archduke Ferdinand including the recitation ofThe Insubria comfortedby Maria Teresa Agnesi
Maria Teresa Agnesi
Maria Teresa Agnesi was an Italian composer. Though she was most famous for her compositions, she was also an accomplished harpsichordist and singer, and the majority of her surviving compositions were written for keyboard, the voice, or both. She was born in Milan to Pietro Agnesi, an...
and the staging 'sAscanio in Alba
Ascanio in Alba
Ascanio in Alba, K. 111, is a pastoral opera in two parts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Parini...
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, which is also engaged in first as the Master of the Court in Milan, only to be rejected by the Empress Maria Theresa, who will send a letter to his son.
The work officially began in 1773 under the direction of Giuseppe Piermarini
Giuseppe Piermarini
Giuseppe Piermarini was an Italian architect who trained with Luigi Vanvitelli at Rome and designed the Teatro alla Scala, Milan , which remains the work by which he is remembered. Indeed, "il Piermarini" serves as an occasional euphemism for the celebrated opera house...
, supported by Leopold Pollack sent from Vienna to control costs and to become the pupil. The first act of the new architect will be to immediately lift the side of the courtyard to the Cathedral, with the other three, creating the so-called Royal Piazetta, then the largest square of the Cathedral. Actually this was one of the solutions proposed restructuring by Nicholas Pacassi, the real architect of the Viennese court. The renovation of the building was indeed very troubled and Piermarini had to balance the demands of style and especially the economy of Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
and his architect with the needs and expectations of future residents: the prince and wife who refused to leave the palace Clerici if the restructuring did not take account of their desires. Externally, Piermarini gave a sober and austere character of the building, detached from the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
and inaugurated on neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
in Milan. In front, the medieval walls are properly into the openings, plastered and divided by stone pilasters, remain the three original plans (Vienna wanted to spend as little as possible). The centre of the body of honour, slightly protruding, is reinforced by entering four large semi and a triple portal surmounted by a balcony. Wreath was also laid on a great central crest and a series of statues and trophies (never realized).
Striking the pavement of the new square built at the "authorized" and patterns of granite with a beautiful diamond pattern.
In full swing of work, the night of 26 February 1776, burned again the Court Theatre. It was decided to remove the theatre (always a fire risk) and within two years was built the famous Teatro Alla Scala in a different area of the city, which became one of, if not the first public opera house in the world. The space of the building formerly occupied by the ducal theater was used for the reception of new shows to represent and extend westward to the Garden. A theater of the court, however, we wanted to, so we demolished the nearby schools Cannobiana and, again designed by Piermarini, we build the theatre Cannobiana that had facade on Via Larga (the rising of the current Tear Lyric).
Even within the building undergoes many transformations, leading to a local distribution remained almost unchanged until later today. The largest-scale enterprise is undoubtedly represented by the famous Hall of Caryatids. Is simultaneously restored the ducal chapel of St. Gotthard getting a new altar and decoration inerna neoclassical style. It is saved only the bell tower, considered a model of architectural beauty of the idea of the time of Azzone Visconti.
Archduke of both new orders to buy more Gobelin tapestries with the stories of Jason
Jason
Jason was a late ancient Greek mythological hero from the late 10th Century BC, famous as the leader of the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcus...
and those of Raphael Pallavicini. Internally the rooms are decorated in stucco by 'Albertolli, painted by Julian Traballesi and Martin Knoller, a cycle of works that will end only in the 19th century due to the intervention of Andrea Appiani
Andrea Appiani
Andrea Appiani was an Italian neoclassical painter.-Biography:He was born in Milan. He had been intended to follow his father's career in medicine but instead entered the private academy of the painter Carlo Maria Giudici . He received instruction in drawing, copying mainly from sculpture and prints...
before and Francesco Hayez
Francesco Hayez
Francesco Hayez was an Italian painter, the leading artist of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan, renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories and exceptionally fine portraits.-Biography:...
then.
The work of building a Piermarini officially ends on 17 June 1778, when the Archduke Ferdinand Palazzo Clerici leave to go to live in the new Palazzo Reale.
Napoleonic era and restoration
In 1796 Napoleon Bonaparte, more generally, comes to MilanMilan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
conquered and annexed it in spirit to France with the formation of the Cisalpine Republic
Cisalpine Republic
The Cisalpine Republic was a French client republic in Northern Italy that lasted from 1797 to 1802.-Birth:After the Battle of Lodi in May 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte proceeded to organize two states: one to the south of the Po River, the Cispadane Republic, and one to the north, the Transpadane...
. The Regio-Ducal Palace, therefore, called the National Palace and became the seat of the main governing bodies of the new republic, namely the military command, first and then the Directory.
When the Austro-Russians to regain control of Milan in 1799, the French government will be forced to hastily sell most of the furnishings of the building at auction as well as allowing the looting of other halls of the population.
It will only be in 1805 that the building will again rise, inter alia, reaching its peak of splendor. It would indeed be in the same year that Milan will become the capital of the newborn Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy
There have been several distinct entities known as the Kingdom of Italy. Italy under the rule of Odoacer from 476 to 493 is often called the Kingdom of Italy, since it encompassed the Roman province of Italy and Odoacer is periodically styled rex...
consisting of Napoleon's adopted son Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Prince Français, Prince of Venice, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and 1st Prince of Eichstätt ad personam was the first child and only son of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la...
who was appointed Viceroy and take residence right in Milan's Palazzo Reale. Milan is the capital of a vast kingdom that includes all of northern Italy and as such also the home of the new government needs to be worthy of this privilege.
It is therefore repair damage caused by war and purchase new furnishings and lavish the same Eugène de Beauharnais about enlargement of the building at the rear thanks to a project entrusted to Luigi Canonica
Luigi Canonica
Luigi Canonica was a Swiss architect and urban planner whose prominent career as an exponent of neoclassicism was spent largely in Milan and Lombardy. He was the designated architect of the short-lived Repubblica Cisalpina, and, following the fall of the Napoleonic empire, of the kings of Sardinia...
, which adds to the entire block now occupied by the council offices where they are fitted to the new stables, a large riding school and many local offices, all in austere neo-classical style (the project was completed years later by Tazzini that was also the author of the facade on Via Larga) from handling, known as "The Lady Knight" and the place of horse shows, was entered through a bridge on the court theater Restrelli (theatre Cannobiana) to Andrea Appiani
Andrea Appiani
Andrea Appiani was an Italian neoclassical painter.-Biography:He was born in Milan. He had been intended to follow his father's career in medicine but instead entered the private academy of the painter Carlo Maria Giudici . He received instruction in drawing, copying mainly from sculpture and prints...
was given the completion of the frescoes in the halls of representation that will be opened l '8 May 1805 during an official visit to Napoleon at Milan.
With the fall of Napoleon in 1814, the kingdom of Italy in Milan toppled the huge palace begins a slight loss of importance, immediately recovered with the restoration. Under the Austrians, was formed on Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia and as such the Palazzo Reale in Milan will serve as the seat of the new viceroy of a wide realm. Adelaide, Queen of Sardinia was born here in 1822.
The building era and loss of the Hall of Cariatidi
With the annexation of Lombardy to Piedmont domains in 1859, the palace became the seat of the new governorship of the city of Milan, led by Massimo d'Azeglio who start up the 13 February 1860 to leave his post later that year. With the proclamation of the kingdom of Italy in the 1861, the palace became the property directly from the Savoy family, but they tended to stay there very little since Milan was no longer the capital of a kingdom. Umberto IUmberto I of Italy
Umberto I or Humbert I , nicknamed the Good , was the King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his death. He was deeply loathed in far-left circles, especially among anarchists, because of his conservatism and support of the Bava-Beccaris massacre in Milan...
, resided mainly in the Villa Reale di Monza and how this little trodden ground of Milan and after his assassination in 1900 the son Vittorio Emanuele III will tend to stay away from hot environments Milan. The last official receipt dates back to 1906 for the Universal Exhibition.
In 1919 the last official visit to the palace was that of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
, who was welcomed in Milan by Victor Emmanuel III of Savoy. On October 11 of that same year, the palace was sold by the House of Savoy to the Italian state, however, on the condition that the apartments remain available to the royal family.
With the sale to the public land Averre the second massacre at the palace Piermarini. The first was the case in the creation of the new Piazza del Duomo, when it shortened the sleeves east of the palace is spoiling the proportions of the palace square.
Second havoc, aveviene neglianni '30, when is shortened by at least another 60 metres, the so-called "long sleeves" to build the Arengario. This has definitely ruined beauty of the building, linked largely to the proportional relationships between the bodies. Same goes for the square. Other destruction of the 1925 include when they demolished the bodies of the Canon
Canon
-Culture and arts:*Canon , material that is considered to be genuine*Western canon, the books, music, and art that have been the most influential in shaping Western cultureMusic...
and Tazzini to build the municipal offices.
The whole building was heavily damaged during the night of 15 August 1943 when the city was hit by a bombardment English against the Nazi occupiers. In fact the bombs were not directly hit the building, but it was destroyed by fire unleashed in neighbouring buildings that erode the attic of the Hall of Cariatidi, burning the wood warping and causing the collapse of large trusses that in their fall overwhelm the time, the balcony and split in several places and the floor. The high temperature in the room overheated unleashed stucco and turned the color and the constituent material, permanently ruining the famous hall, including Appiani paintings that were kept.
Will be after the war in 1947 that the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage will give the start to the work of recovery of the building and specifically the Hall of Caryatids. It is thus achieved a new flooring and a new roof of the hall floor, without the reconstruction of earlier decorations (of which, however, has ample documentation) in the choice of leaving a testimony of the war in Milan.
The room repurchases great reputation from 1953 when, in a show of Picasso in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, the Catalan artist chooses it as the venue to welcome his work, Guernica, with a clear symbolic purpose.
Only from 2000, moreover, the room has regained the actual former glory with a very careful restoration that has removed the blackening on the walls caused by the fire of the 1943 and ordered consolidating all surfaces (structural and painting). On the cover of the ceiling, previously white, have been reported to drawing sketches of how the ceiling of the room had to appear before the collapse.
The Museum of the Palace
Only at the beginning of 21st century, more than fifty years by the destruction of war, the Royal Palace is finding a central role in social and cultural life of Milan.Although still under the third stage of restoration, which will return the entire building to its former glory, the first two batches are completed, allowing visitors the chance to admire the halls of the Palace Museum in therearrangedwith an itinerary through the four seasons of the historic Palazzo: the era Teresiana and Neoclassical
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
, the Napoleonic era, the Restoration and l 'Unification of Italy.
The restoration took place through a complex task of reconstruction of the original furniture to allow a wider and more articulate historical and stylistic reading of court life. The first visible halls belonging to the neoclassical period, ranging from reconstruction of Piermarini to Napoleonic times, are those that best explain the splendor of an era "enlightened" in which the city had a major role in Europe.
The third phase of restoration still in progress will return to the museum rooms of the old apartmentreserve, in which they are documented and maintained the royal ways of living of the 19th century.
Cultural centre
The Royal Palace is a cultural centre in the heart of the city coordinated with three other exhibition venues: the Rotonda della Besana, the Palazzo Region and Palazzo dell'ArengarioPalazzo dell'Arengario
The Arengario Palace is a complex of two symmetrical buildings located in Piazza del Duomo, the central plaza of Milan, Italy. It was completed in the 1950s and currently houses the Museo del Novecento, a museum dedicated to 20th century art...
.
The building played an important role with regard to art in Milan, as shown by the great success of the exhibition of recent years that have included Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
, Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
and other painters and sculptors. Fundamental is the exhibition opened at the Palazzo Reale in 2009 on the centenary of the birth of Futurism
Futurism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
.