Castello Sforzesco

Last updated
Castello Sforzesco
Milan in Italy
20110725 Castello Sforzesco Milan 5557.jpg
The Torre del Filarete
Location map Milan Central.png
Red pog.svg
Sforza Castle
Location within Milan
Coordinates 45°28′12″N9°10′43″E / 45.47000°N 9.17861°E / 45.47000; 9.17861
Site information
OwnerComune of Milan
Open to
the public
Yes, a museum; the courtyard is a public park
ConditionRestored by Luca Beltrami (1891–1905)
Website www.milanocastello.it/en
Site history
Built1360–1499
In useUntil 1862

The Castello Sforzesco (Italian for "Sforza's Castle") is a medieval fortification located in Milan, Northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later renovated and enlarged, in the 16th and 17th centuries it was one of the largest citadels in Europe. Extensively rebuilt by Luca Beltrami in 1891–1905, it now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.

Contents

History

The original construction was ordered by Galeazzo II Visconti, a local nobleman, in 1358 – c. 1370; [1] this castle was known as the Castello di Porta Giova (or Porta Zubia), from the name of a gate in walls located nearby. [2] It was built in the same area of the ancient Roman fortification of Castrum Portae Jovis, which served as castra pretoria when the city was the capital of the Roman Empire. It was enlarged by Galeazzo's successors, Gian Galeazzo, Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria Visconti, until it became a square-plan castle with 200 m-long sides, four towers at the corners and up to 7-metre-thick (23 ft) walls. [2] The castle was the main residence in the city of its Visconti lords, and was destroyed by the short-lived Golden Ambrosian Republic which ousted them in 1447.

Water fountains in front of the Castello Sforzesco Sforzesco Castle.jpg
Water fountains in front of the Castello Sforzesco

In 1450, Francesco Sforza, once he had shattered the republicans, began reconstruction of the castle to turn it into his princely residence. In 1452 he hired the sculptor and architect Filarete to design and decorate the central tower, which is still known as the Torre del Filarete. After Francesco's death, the construction was continued by his son Galeazzo Maria, under the architect Benedetto Ferrini. The decoration was executed by local painters. In 1476, during the regency of Bona of Savoy, the tower bearing her name was built.

In 1494 Ludovico Sforza became lord of Milan, and called on numerous artists to decorate the castle. These include Leonardo da Vinci (who frescoed several rooms, in collaboration with Bernardino Zenale and Bernardino Butinone) and Bramante, who painted frescoes in the Sala del Tesoro; [3] the Sala della Balla was decorated with Francesco Sforza's deeds. Around 1498, Leonardo worked on the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse , painting decorations of vegetable motifs. In the following years, however, the castle was damaged by assaults from Italian, French and German troops; a bastion, known as tenaglia , was added, perhaps designed by Cesare Cesariano.

The castle in the 16th century Chateau.Milan.png
The castle in the 16th century

After the French victory in the Battle of Marignano in 1515, the defeated Maximilian Sforza, his Swiss mercenaries, as well as the cardinal-bishop of Sion retreated into the castle. However, King Francis I of France followed them into Milan, before his sappers placed mines under the castle's foundations, whereupon the defenders capitulated. In 1521, in a period in which it was used as a weapons depot, the Torre del Filarete exploded. When Francesco II Sforza returned briefly to power in Milan, he had the fortress restored and enlarged, in addition to a part of it adapted as a residence for his wife, Christina of Denmark.

Coat of arms of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, painted on an interior ceiling Milano - Castello sforzesco - Stemma Galeazzo Maria Dux Mediolani quintus - Foto G. Dall'Orto - 6-jan-2007.jpg
Coat of arms of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, painted on an interior ceiling

Under the Spanish domination which followed, the castle became a citadel, as the governor's seat was moved to the Ducal Palace (1535). Its garrison varied from 1,000 to 3,000 men, led by a Spanish castellan. [2] In 1550 works began to adapt the castle to modern fortification style, as a hexagonal (originally pentagonal) star fort, following the addition of 12 bastions. The external fortifications reached 3 km in length and covered an area of 25.9 hectares. [4] The castle also remained in use as a fort after the Spaniards were replaced by the Austrians in Lombardy.

Journal of Jean-Claude Locquin describing the trenches made around the castle during Napoleonic rule. Archives nationales de France. Journal de Jean-Claude Locquin - Archives Nationales - 607AP-99, d.3 - (1).jpg
Journal of Jean-Claude Locquin describing the trenches made around the castle during Napoleonic rule. Archives nationales de France.

Most of the outer fortifications were demolished during the period of Napoleonic rule in Milan under the Cisalpine Republic. The semi-circular Piazza Castello was constructed around the city side of the castle, surrounded by a radial street layout of new urban blocks bounded by the Foro Buonaparte. The area on the "country" side of the castle was laid out as a 700-by-700-metre (2,300 by 2,300 ft) square parade ground known as Piazza d'Armi.

After the unification of Italy in the 19th century, the castle was transferred from military use to the city of Milan. Parco Sempione, one of the largest parks in the city, was created on the former parade grounds.

The government of Milan undertook restoration works, directed by Luca Beltrami. The Via Dante was cut through the medieval street layout in the 1880s to provide a direct promenade between the castle and the Duomo on an axis with the main gate. Between 1900 and 1905 the Torre del Filarete was rebuilt, based on 16th-century drawings, as a monument to King Umberto I.

Allied bombardment of Milan in 1943 during World War II severely damaged the castle. The post-war reconstruction of the building for museum purposes was undertaken by the BBPR architectural partnership.

Description

The castle has a quadrangular plan, on a site across the city's walls. The wall which once faced the countryside north of Milan has square towers and an ogival gate. This was once accessed through a drawbridge. The northern tower is known as the Torre della Corte, and its counterpart to the west is the Torre del Tesoro ; both received wide windows during the Sforza age.

The corner defended by the Torre Ducale is characterized by a loggia bridge, attributed to Bramante, and commissioned by Ludovico Sforza in the late 15th century to connect the Corte Ducale (the court in the area used as a ducal residence) and the Cortile della Ghirlanda. This ghirlanda refers to a wall, protected by a ditch filled with water, built under Francesco Sforza, of which few traces remain today, including the Porta del Soccorso. Remains of two later ravelins can be seen in correspondence of the point in which the castle was joined by the city walls (near the Porta Comasina gate) and the Porta del Carmine. The Porta della Ghirlanda gate was entered through a ravelin (now lost) and had two entrances accessed through runways, which led to an underground passage which continued along the walls.

The external side which once faced the walled city has two round towers, commissioned by Francesco Sforza to replace the former square ones, which had become less suitable to defend against fire weapons. The central tower, called the Torre del Filarete, is a modern reconstruction. The round towers lost their upper parts under the Austrians, who needed open space for their artillery; the towers' present-day upper sections are modern reconstructions. The Torre del Filarete and the Porta del Santo Spirito, located further to the south, are both preceded by a ravelin.

The main gate leads to a large court from which several internal features can be seen. These include the Tower of Bona of Savoy (1476) and the Rocchetta, a sort of internal defensive ridotto with a gate of its own. At the right of the Porta del Carmine are the remains of two 15th-century courts. The Rocchetta, whose access gate from the main court (a modern addition) features the Sforza coat of arms, has an internal court with, on three sides, a portico with 15th-century arcades. The Corte Ducale is the wing of the castle originally used as a ducal residence; it features a court with two loggias, a smaller one on the left and a larger one at its end, called Loggiato dell'Elefante due to the presence of a fresco of an elephant.

Civic Museums

One of the four castle entrances Castello Sforzesco di Milano 0001.jpg
One of the four castle entrances

The Castello Sforzesco complex includes the following museums: [5]

The Biblioteca Trivulziana holds a manuscript by Leonardo da Vinci, the Codex Trivulzianus. In 2012, new paintings attributed to Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio were discovered at the castle. [8] [9]

Burials

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vigevano</span> Comune in Lombardy, Italy

Vigevano is a comune (municipality) in the province of Pavia, in the Italian region of Lombardy. A historic art town, it is also renowned for shoemaking and is one of the main centres of Lomellina, a rice-growing agricultural district. Vigevano received the honorary title of city with a decree of Duke Francis II Sforza on 2 February 1532. It is famed for its Renaissance Piazza Ducale in the centre of the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincenzo Foppa</span> Italian painter (c. 1427–1430 – c. 1515–1516)

Vincenzo Foppa was an Italian painter from the Renaissance period. While few of his works survive, he was an esteemed and influential painter during his time and is considered the preeminent leader of the Early Lombard School. He spent his career working for the Sforza family, Dukes of Milan, in Pavia, as well as various other patrons throughout Lombardy and Liguria. He lived and worked in his native Brescia during his later years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bianca Maria Visconti</span> Duchess of Milan (1425–1468)

Bianca Maria Visconti also known as Bianca Maria Sforza or Blanca Maria was Duchess of Milan from 1450 to 1468 by marriage to Francesco I Sforza. She was regent of Marche during the absence of her spouse in 1448. She served as Regent of the Duchy of Milan during the illness of her spouse in 1462, as well as in 1466, between the death of her spouse and until her son, the new Duke, who was absent, was able to return to Milan to assume power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giovanni Paolo I Sforza</span>

Giovanni Paolo I Sforza was an Italian condottiero, the first in the Sforza family line of the Marquesses of Caravaggio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museo d'Arte Antica</span>

The Museo d'Arte Antica is an art museum in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It has a large collection of sculpture from late antiquity and the medieval and Renaissance periods. The various frescoed rooms of the museum house an armoury, a tapestry room, some funerary monuments, Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà and two medieval portals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sala delle Asse</span> Room decorated by Leonardo da Vinci in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan

The Sala delle Asse, is a large room in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, the location of a painting in tempera on plaster by Leonardo da Vinci, dating from about 1498. Its walls and vaulted ceiling are decorated with "intertwining plants with fruits and monochromes of roots and rocks" and a canopy created by sixteen trees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Trezzo sull'Adda)</span> Castle in Trezzo sullAdda, Lombardy, Northern Italy

The Visconti Castle of Trezzo was a mediaeval castle built between 1370 and 1377 by Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan, at Trezzo sull'Adda, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It included a massive tower, 42-meter high, and a fortified bridge on the Adda river on a single arch with a record 72-meter span.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Park</span> Disused park in Lombardy, northern Italy

Visconti Park was the private park of the Visconti and Sforza families, lords, and dukes of Milan. Located in Lombardy, northern Italy, it extended between the Pavia Castle and the Pavia Charterhouse. It covered an area of about 2,200 hectares (22 km2) and was encircled by walls about 25 kilometres (16 mi) in length. It was founded in 1360 by Galeazzo II Visconti and enlarged by his son Gian Galeazzo. Its decay began in 1525 with the damages inflicted during the Battle of Pavia. Today, the park's area mainly serves agriculture purposes, while some portions are nature reserves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Cusago)</span>

The Visconti Castle, or Castello Visconteo, is a castle in the town of Cusago near Milan, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It was built in the 14th century by Bernabò Visconti and used as a hunting lodge by him and other Visconti family members. The castle underwent significant changes in the Renaissance period; today, it is in neglected conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti-Sforza Castle (Novara)</span>

The Visconti-Sforza Castle of Novara is a castle located in the south-western border of the old center of Novara. It was erected on the former corner of the Roman and Middle Age walls that surrounded the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Abbiategrasso)</span> Castle in northern Italy

The Visconti Castle of Abbiategrasso is a medieval castle in Abbiategrasso, Lombardy, northern Italy. It was among the first Visconti castles built according to their typical quadrangular layout. In the 14th and 15th centuries, it was one of the preferred residences of the duchesses of Milan of the Visconti and Sforza houses. Today, the castle's surviving part serves as the seat of the municipality of Abbiategrasso.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti-Sforza Castle (Vigevano)</span>

The Visconti-Sforza Castle is a mediaeval castle located in the centre of the city of Vigevano, Lombardy, Northern Italy. In the 14th and 15th centuries, members of the Visconti and Sforza houses, lords and dukes of Milan, transformed a previous fortification into a vast family resort. The castle was part of a wider plan of urban development for Vigevano, which included the erection of other buildings and the construction of the central Piazza Ducale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Cassano d'Adda)</span> Castle in Cassano dAdda, Italy

The Visconti Castle or Castello Visconteo of Cassano is a castle of medieval origin in Cassano d'Adda, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It received the current form in the 14th century, when Bernabò Visconti, lord of Milan, enlarged the existing fortification as part of a defensive system of the Visconti dominions on the Adda river. At the end of the 20th century, after a period of abandonment, it was restored and transformed into a hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Lodi)</span>

The Visconti Castle of Lodi is a historical building in Lodi, Lombardy, northern Italy. As it appears today, it is the result of transformations made on a Middle Age castle founded in the 12th century by Frederick Barbarossa. Its name derives from the Visconti family, lords and dukes of Milan, who in the 13th and 14th centuries took possession of and then rebuilt the original fortification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti-Sforza Castle (Galliate)</span> Castle in northern Italy

The Visconti-Sforza Castle or Sforza Castle of Galliate is a medieval castle in Galliate, Piedmont, Northern Italy. It was erected in the 15th century by the Sforza, dukes of Milan, on a previous fortification built by their progenitors Visconti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visconti Castle (Pavia)</span> Medieval castle in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy

The Visconti Castle of Pavia is a medieval castle in Pavia, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It was built after 1360 in a few years by Galeazzo II Visconti, Lord of Milan, and used as a sovereign residence by him and his son Gian Galeazzo, first duke of Milan. Its wide dimensions induced Petrarch, who visited Pavia in the fall of 1365, to call it "an enormous palace in the citadel, a truly remarkable and costly structure". Adjacent to the castle, the Visconti created a vast walled park that reached the Certosa di Pavia, a Carthusian monastery founded in 1396 by the Visconti as well and located about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casa Atellani</span> Palace in Milan, Italy

Casa Atellani, or also Casa degli Atellani, is a demorial that belonged to Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, the last surviving trace of the ancient Borgo delle Grazie. Historically part of the Sestiere di Porta Vercellina, today it is located at numbers 66 and 67 of Corso Magenta. It was owned by the Castellini Baldissera family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo del Banco Mediceo</span> Palace in Milan, Italy

The Palazzo del Banco Mediceo or simply Banco Mediceo, was a palace in Milan, the Milanese seat of the Medici's financial exchange activities, known throughout Europe as the Medici Bank. It was one of the earliest examples of Lombard Renaissance architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renaissance in Lombardy</span> Aspects of Renaissance art and culture in Lombardy

The Italian Renaissance in Lombardy, in the Duchy of Milan in the mid-15th century, started in the International Lombard Gothic period and gave way to Lombard humanism with the passage of power between the Visconti and Sforza families. In the second half of the 15th century the Lombard artistic scene developed without disruption, with influences gradually linked to Florentine, Ferrarese, and Paduan styles. With the arrival of Bramante (1479) and Leonardo da Vinci (1482), Milan reached absolute artistic heights in the Italian and European panorama, while still demonstrating the possibilities of coexistence between the artistic avant-garde and the Gothic substratum.

References

  1. Page at icastelli.it Archived 2016-03-17 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian)
  2. 1 2 3 Guida Milano. Touring Club Italiano. 1985. p. 436.
  3. Page at Lombardi Beni Culturali website (in Italian)
  4. Guida Milano. Touring Club Italiano. 1985. pp. 438–439.
  5. "The Official Castello Sforzesco Website". Archived from the original on 2012-06-26. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  6. "The Official Castello Sforzesco Website". Archived from the original on 2013-01-13. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
  7. "The Pietà Rondanini Museum, dedicated to the sculpture". Portale per il Turismo del Comune di Milano. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  8. "Caravaggio: scoperti a Milano cento disegni giovanili". LaStampa.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  9. ""Ritrovati 100 disegni di Caravaggio" – Repubblica.it". La Repubblica. Retrieved 2018-03-06.

Bibliography