Garegnano Charterhouse

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Facade of the charterhouse Certosagaregnano.JPG
Façade of the charterhouse

Garegnano Charterhouse, also known as Milan Charterhouse (Italian : Certosa di Garegnano or Certosa di Milano) is a former Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, located on the outskirts of Milan, Italy, in the Garegnano district. It now houses a community of Capuchin Friars.

Italian language Romance language

Italian is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. Italian, together with Sardinian, is by most measures the closest language to Vulgar Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino and Vatican City. It has an official minority status in western Istria. It formerly had official status in Albania, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro (Kotor) and Greece, and is generally understood in Corsica and Savoie. It also used to be an official language in the former Italian East Africa and Italian North Africa, where it plays a significant role in various sectors. Italian is also spoken by large expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia. Many speakers of Italian are native bilinguals of both Italian and other regional languages.

Monastery complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplace(s) of monks or nuns

A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church, or temple, and may also serve as an oratory, or in the case of communities anything from a single building housing only one senior and two or three junior monks or nuns, to vast complexes and estates housing tens or hundreds. A monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary. Depending on the location, the monastic order and the occupation of its inhabitants, the complex may also include a wide range of buildings that facilitate self-sufficiency and service to the community. These may include a hospice, a school, and a range of agricultural and manufacturing buildings such as a barn, a forge, or a brewery.

Milan Italian city

Milan is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city in Italy after Rome, with the city proper having a population of 1,395,274 while its metropolitan city has a population of 3,245,308. Its continuously built-up urban area has a population estimated to be about 5,270,000 over 1,891 square kilometres. The wider Milan metropolitan area, known as Greater Milan, is a polycentric metropolitan region that extends over central Lombardy and eastern Piedmont and which counts an estimated total population of 7.5 million, making it by far the largest metropolitan area in Italy and the 54th largest in the world. Milan served as capital of the Western Roman Empire from 286 to 402 and the Duchy of Milan during the medieval period and early modern age.

History

The monastery, dedicated to Saint Ambrose but also known as Our Lady of the Lamb of God, was founded in 1349 by Giovanni Visconti, bishop and lord of Milan. Soon after the foundation, monks from this monastery, with the patronage of Galeazzo Visconti, helped found the Certosa of Pavia. [1]

Giovanni Visconti (archbishop of Milan) Archbishop & Lord of Milan

Giovanni Visconti (1290–1354) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal, who was co-ruler in Milan and lord of other Italian cities. He also was a military leader who fought against Florence, and used force to capture and hold other cities.

Galeazzo II Visconti ruler of Milan

Galeazzo II Visconti was a member of the Visconti dynasty and a ruler of Milan, Italy.

It was then located some 4 kilometers from the walls of Milan. In the 14th century it housed, among others, the poet Petrarch.

Petrarch 14th-century Italian scholar and poet

Francesco Petrarca, commonly anglicized as Petrarch, was a scholar and poet of Renaissance Italy who was one of the earliest humanists. His rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited with inventing the 14th-century Renaissance. Petrarch is often considered the founder of Humanism. In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo created the model for the modern Italian language based on Petrarch's works, as well as those of Giovanni Boccaccio, and, to a lesser extent, Dante Alighieri. Petrarch would be later endorsed as a model for Italian style by the Accademia della Crusca.

It was pillaged in 1449 when the Visconti dynasty fell. It was suppressed under the rationalist reforms of the Emperor Joseph II, Milan then being under Austrian rule, and became a parish church in 1782. In 1960 the surviving buildings and parochial duties were taken over by the Capuchin Friars. The present buildings date from the 16th and 17th centuries.

The main artworks include a cycle of frescos in the main church by Simone Peterzano (1578), il Genovesino, and Daniele Crespi (1629). There is a painting of San Brunone by Crespi. [2] The chapter house contains, in the vault, a fresco of Saint Michael by Bernardo Zenale of the early 16th century.

Simone Peterzano Milanese painter of the Cinquecento

Simone Peterzano was an Italian painter of the later Mannerism, native of Venice. He is mostly known as the master of Caravaggio.

Daniele Crespi Italian painter

Daniele Crespi was an Italian painter and draughtsman. He is regarded as one of the most original artists working in Milan in the 1620s. He broke away from the exaggerated manner of Lombard Mannerism in favour of an early Baroque style, distinguished by clarity of form and content. A prolific history painter, he was also known for his portraits.

Chapter house building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which larger meetings are held

A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which larger meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole community often met there daily for readings and to hear the abbot or senior monks talk. When attached to a collegiate church, the dean, prebendaries and canons of the college meet there. The rooms may also be used for other meetings of various sorts; in medieval times monarchs on tour in their territory would often take them over for their meetings and audiences. Synods, ecclesiastical courts and similar meetings often took place in chapter houses.

Further reading

Coordinates: 45°30′09″N9°07′44″E / 45.50250°N 9.12889°E / 45.50250; 9.12889

  1. Dizionario Corografico Della Lombardia curated by A. Bianchi, 1850, page 341.
  2. A. Bianchi, page 341.

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