Roses by any other name ... the Profume Museum in Milan

Stuff we take for granted can, when you start pulling at the threads of its history, fascinate, enthuse and enthrall. The little private Perfume Museum in Milan does just that....More......

Born of a private collector's passion, the museum is just a few steps away from the Cenisio stop on Milan's appropriately named n. 5 lilac line (in case that reference was too obscure for you, how about Chanel n. 5 and the profume of flowers?).

When you get to the address, don't let the unassuming apartment building fool you; it's in a small semi-basement apartment brightened with lights and lots of large clean glass cases housing hundreds and hundreds of examples.

No labels, though, but the visits are obligatorily guided, anyway, by the enthusiastic collector and founder, so you won't miss them.

Two basic threads seemed to interweave, separate and weave, again: the changing fashions of both smell and packaging (and, hence, marketing...OK that makes three threads).

Though perfumes are known to us from just about the beginning of history (i.e., writing, about 3300 BC), the collection concentrates on the period from the late 19th century, when perfumes for ladies -- as far as I can remember of all the info I was trying to absorb -- tended to be of single flowers, pure in their idealized asexual view of women, up to the roaring Twenties, when the social life of ladies burst out of more than corsets, embracing the birth of sensual complex fragrances, up to our own time.

Similarly, perfumes originally were produced, like medicines, by neighborhood pharmacists, and so were packaged anonymously in the same anonymous rectangular bottles also used for medicines. In the early 20th century, the need to attract attention in the ever industrially expanding universe of perfumes also provided fertile ground for the birth and development of creative bottle designs.

My personal favorite? This one for Chanel, created by a stroke of genius and the designer's sneak peak at the tailor's bust Mae West sent to Chanel for the creation of her clothes.


MUSEO DEL PROFUMO (Perfume Museum)
via Messina, 55 - buzzer 5 then 9 then ENTER
347.434.9240
museodelprofumo@virgilio.it

Entrance fee: E. 10,00 per person, a minimum of two people

Hours: every day from 10 AM to 3 PM

The Typewriter Museum in Milan

Like to write? Ever used a typewriter, whether manual or electric? Love it when history comes alive through a close look at the everyday objects that surround us? ...More......

Then the Typewriter Museum in Milan is right for you!

About halfway between Maciachini and Zara on the yellow metro line, this little private museum born of a collector's passion is -- I admit -- ...

...a bit fusty, a bit severe with its row upon row upon row of industrial-style shelving packed with lots and lots of machines id'd with a bare minimum of info, but don't let this discourage you...for two reasons.

(1) The owner-founder-director-guide is absolutely engaging and enthralling, and

(2) Soon, the museum will have my single sheet in English that will let you pick out a few of the more important examples to see the collection at your own pace (the museum so enthused me that I volunteered to do it!).

There are about 500 machines in the collection, including calculators, that cover pretty much the whole history of typewriters from the end of the 19th century up to computers.

The premises are small and simple because it's an entirely privately organized and funded museum that doesn't charge admission...considering helping out by buying one of the very reasonably priced publications.


MUSEO DELLA MACCHINA DA SCRIVERE (Typewriter Museum)
via F.L. Menabrea, 10 - 20159 Milano
347.884.5560
umberto1935@libero.it
http://www.umbertodidonato.org

Entrance fee: free

Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 3 - 7 PM

Better call ahead if you want a visit or info in English.

Help! It's Monday, and all the museums are closed! (Not!)

Many museums the world over are closed on Monday. Just so you know.

If you're in Milan, though, there still are some interesting artsy things to see, beginning with any of the many beautiful churches scattered all over town. One heads-up:...More......

...the churches generally close by noon-thirty and don't reopen, again, until around 3 P.M. (The caretaker does have to eat, too, you know. Speaking of caretakers, they cost, too, as does the lighting, maintenance and restoration, so always find the box just for such donations -- restauro - mantenimento -- and be generous, after all, you're visiting it as a museum, not to pray.)

Here's a handy list of museums that are regularly open on Mondays, with some brief info for Mondays. Note that museums generally stop letting people in at least 30-45 minutes before the closing time.

Enjoy!



MAPP-Paolo Pini Art Museum (contemporary art), 9:30 A.M. to 4 P.M.
Via Ippocrate 43 (MM3-yellow line to Affori FN)



Holocaust Memorial, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M.
On the right hand flank of the Stazione Centrale (MM2-green line / MM3-yellow line)



MUDEC-Museum of Cultures (cultural context of non-occidental objects), 2:30-7:30 P.M.
Via Tortona, 56 (MM2-green line, then a loooooooong walk down via Tortona)



Brera Observatory and Botanical Gardens, OBSERV.: 9 A.M. - 4:30 P.M., GARDEN: 10 A.M. - 6 P.M.
via Brera 28 (MM2-green line to Lanza)



Museum of Art and Science (ethnic art; the processes and techniques of authenticating art), 10 A.M. - 6 P.M.
Via Quintino Sella, 4



PIME Museum (ethnic art from Catholic missions around the world), 9 A.M. to 12:30 P.M., 2 P.M. - 6 P.M.
Via Mosé Bianchi, 94 (MM1-red line to Lotto)



Museum of the Basilica of St. Eustorgio and the Portinari Chapel, 10 A.M. - 6 P.M.
Piazza Sant'Eustorgio, 3 (trams 9, 29, 30 to Piazza XXIV Maggio, tram 3 to Piazza Sant'Eustorgio)



Poldi Pezzoli Museum, 10 A.M.-6 P.M.
via Manzoni, 12 (MM3 / tram 1 to Montenapoleone)



La Scala Theater Museum, 9 A.M. - 12:30 P.M., 1:30 -5:30 P.M. (If there are no performances, you will be able to go into one of the boxes to see the interior of the theater.)
Piazza della Scala (MM1-red line to the Duomo; MM3-yellow line to the Duomo or Montenapoleone; tram 1 to La Scala)



PAC-Contemporary Art Pavilion, 2:30-7:30 P.M.
via Palestro, 14 (bus 94 / tram 1 to Piazza Cavour)



Treasury of St. Ambrogio, 10 A.M. - noon, 2:30 P.M. - 6 P.M. (many objects have been moved to the Diocesan Museum, but there are still some VERY interesting things to see, and seeing the collection, housed in what used to be the monks' walkway between the monastery and the church, allows you also to see a very precious and well-preserved Early Christian mosaic of the late 4th century A.D.)
Piazza Sant'Ambrogio (trams 16 & 27 to via Monti/via Carducci; MM2-green line to Sant'Ambrogio; bus 94 to via di Amicis/Sant'Ambrogio)



Triennale (modern and contemporary design, temporary exhibits, cafè), 10:30 A.M. - 11 P.M.
Viale Alemagna, 6 (bus 61 - Triennale stop)


Opening the post is my photograph of the exterior of the Portinari Chapel, a "must-see" Milanese Renaissance jewel.

Massive amount of additions to my "Art in Milan" pages on the "Where Milan" site...check 'em out!

In honor of Expo, I've finally got the better of distractions, and spent HOURS writing out quick summaries for almost all of Milan's principal museums (and there are quite a few). Still have a couple to go, but am pooped. Will finish tomorrow. In the meantime, here's link, so you can have that info on hand, too.

Enjoy!

Free entry to SOME Italian state-owned museums on Easter and Easter Monday (2015)

Hope this becomes a nice habit: this year's free entry to state-owned museums in Italy on Easter and Easter Monday.

The bad news is that the official web site for the cultural patrimony ministry is only in Italian.

The good news is that the coverage of this possibility is pretty self-explanatory: a region by region, museum by museum list.

In Milan? Leonardo's "Last Supper" (by reservation only...so what's the point?!) and the Brera Pinacoteca.

Enjoy!

Feel like being nosey in a homey environment? I've just the thing for you: the Circuit of Historic House Museums

You’ve come to/live in Milan, and already have visited everything in my previous post, well, OK, lots of things in my previous posts.

So, now what?

I’ve just the thing!

The Circuit of Historic Houses in Milan will give you a chance to enjoy three out of the four still hidden gems of Milan, as well as one of its best known museums, so let’s go.

Let’s start at the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum, where you can buy the Circuit of Historic House Museums card. The card is valid for a year for all four museums, and it costs less than buying the individual entry tickets. For general information in English about the card and...More...

...the circuit, go here.


BAGATTI VALSECCHI MUSEUM

The best place to start is with the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum, and not just because I work there, so I’m partial--I admit it!--but also, objectively speaking, because it’s a time capsule back into a late 19th century aristocratic Milanese home filled with the original collections of Italian Renaissance art and decorative arts, all placed just where the collectors originally wanted the things to be seen. This way, you’ll get a good idea of what traditional Milan was like at the end of the 19th century before you rush to see anything modern … believe me (and this is the art historian in me speaking), you’ll understand "modern" better (and maybe even like it more), if you understand "traditional," first.

Cross the threshold and let the thoughts of Fausto and Giuseppe Bagatti Valsecchi accompany you, as you enjoy 15th and 16th century paintings, sculptures and furniture, and imagine the brothers sitting like lordly Renaissance princes in front of crackling fireplaces decorated with early 16th century frescoes. Laugh with the brothers at their sense of humor and, why not?, be a little envious of their good luck to find a Giovanni Bellini, a Giampietrino (one of Leonardo da Vinci’s favorite pupils), a few Zenales, works by other respected artists and a much revered portrait from the workshop of Gentile Bellini, as well as gorgeous majolica, glass, arms, armor, a couple of Rodari sculptures and a beautiful Madonna in Donatello’s "schiacciato" style.

Wander at your own pace. The use of the very good (if I do say so, myself...I helped to write them) audioguides is free of charge with entrance ticket purchase; they are available in English, French and Japanese, as well as Italian. Information cards in English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, and soon Chinese and Russian are in each room. Guided visits in many be reserved in various languages. The sumptuous rooms of the museum also are available after closing hours for special events.

The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum, together with the other historic house museums, is a great museum to visit, even for people who don’t usually like to go to museums.

Why?

Because, since it’s a house, it’s homey, and you can go through it looking for your favorite kind of object, be it majolica, arms & armor, glass, glass, scientific instruments, musical instruments, clocks and whatnots, besides the paintings and sculptures...or...you can just be nosy, and peek around to see how the people lived.

If you, or someone you know, lives in Milan, don’t forget to sign up to the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum newsletter, available in English, on the web site. It will keep you informed of the museum’s temporary exhibits, concerts, conferences and kids activities.

Remember to buy the Circuit of Historic House Museums of Milan card, here, because it’s cheaper in the end, and lasts a year!

One more thing: the restaurant on the ground floor of the Bagatti Valsecchi mansion (NOT the same management as the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum) is a completely separate entity, so I don’t have any official information for you about it, but I often see people, there, so you might give it a try.

BAGATTI VALSECCHI MUSEUM
Via Gesù 5 (a few minutes walk from the Duomo, La Scala and San Babila)
MM1-San Babila, MM3-Montenapoleone, Tram 1-Montenapoleone
Handicap access available upon request
Tel. +39-02.7600.6132 (HINT: when making calls within the same city in Italy, it still is necessary to add the city code, in this case, 02)
http://www.museobagattivalsecchi.org
https://www.facebook.com/museo.valsecchi


Next house on the circuit to visit is:

VILLA NECCHI-CAMPIGLIO

A 10-15 minute walk from the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum is the Necchi-Campiglio villa, yes, a countryside style villa in the heart of Milan. Why next on the visit? Because (1) it’s your next step closer to the present in time, and (2) it’s a step toward social change in Italy: from the Bagatti Valsecchi aristocratic mansion to the villa of wealthy, but upper middle-class industrialists. The villa was built in the 1930s and 1940s by one of Italy’s most famous modern architects, Portaluppi (though some of the interior was "updated"--much to my personal chagrin--in the 1950s). Portaluppi’s sun room is my absolute favorite room in the whole house, well, that and the small (by today’s rich standards), but stupendous master bathroom. Set in its own walled garden, the house built for the heirs of the Necchi sewing machine heirs, Gigina and Nedda, and Gigina’s husband, is restful, and has a separately operated caffè.

The house, a FAI-Fondo Ambiente Italiano property, was chosen to house an art collection of the same years, but assembled by a different person. Although not original to the house, it fits in very well.

I have to admit, though, the museum has one serious drawback. You can’t wander at will. You’re obliged to reserve and follow a guided tour of the museum, so you can’t linger and enjoy as you might like. On the other hand, it’s one way to keep you off the furniture!

I’m pretty sure that they have tours in English, but it’s better to check out their web site, and write them an e-mail.

VILLA NECCHI CAMPIGLIO
Via Mozart, 14
T +39-02-7634-0121
http://eng.fondoambiente.it/beni/villa-necchi-campiglio-fai-properties.asp


The next step closer to us in time is the Boschi-Di Stefano Museum.

BOSCHI-DI STEFANO MUSEUM

OK, so, even without the Circuit of Historic Houses of Milan ticket, you could have gotten in for free in this city-owned museum, but the others, no, so go ahead and buy it, it’s still cheaper than buying the three other tickets, separately.

What’s so special about this museum on an upper floor of a nice, but normal condo building? First of all, it takes us one step closer to our own day, stretching from the 1930s up to the 1970s, but it also moves us from upper middle class to the solidly middle class circles. Antonio Boschi was a talented engineer working for the Pirelli company, his wife, Marieda Di Stefano, inherited her family’s interest in art. An artist, herself, she and her husband were passionate about then contemporary art, and so the collection has pieces from their entire married life, all displayed, crammed really, onto the walls of their fairly small condo. Pieces by Milanese artists, or artists working in Milan, were particularly collected, and so that includes the pieces by artists of the world-famous Futurist movement.

It is possible to enjoy the collection on your own, and the website is in English, but if you’re in a group of more than a few people, you’ll need to make reservations ahead of time (that’s normal, though, with pretty much all museums, world-wide).

BOSCHI-DI STEFANO MUSEUM
Via Jan, 15
T +39-02-2024-0568
http://www.fondazioneboschidistefano.it/ws/en/


Finally, we come to the Grand Old Dame, the last museum on the circuit (at least as of the writing of this post): the Poldi Pezzoli Museum.


POLDI PEZZOLI MUSEUM

Once fully a historic house museum, if the truth be told, this (really lovely and rightfully famous) museum really is no longer a historic house museum, in my opinion. Directly bombed during World War II, almost all of the original interiors were destroyed. What remains: the spiral staircase, the small room with the Meissen porcelain and the Algardi sculpture, the Black Room (well, mostly), and (well, mostly) Poldi Pezzoli’s Byzantine-inspired study.

Giuseppe Poldi Pezzoli was the son of two noble families, his mother was a Trivulzio. As a young adult he actively participated in Milan’s first (unsuccessful) bid for political freedom from the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1848...for which he was exiled for a few years to encourage him to cool off. He took advantage of the forced time away from Milan, and travelled throughout Europe, becoming a passionate collector of art, which he installed in his house, as decoration for himself and—though he confided it only to his lawyer—as a museum for after his death (he died unmarried and without children, so just imagine the surprise of his cousins when the will was opened).

Much of the collections was taken out of Milan during WWII, so it was saved, but, except for the above-mentioned rooms, was installed in the refurbished spaces in the typical set-up of a museum, the principal reason why I don’t think it still can be called a historic house museum, as wonderful as the collections are. Furthermore, Poldi Pezzoli had specified in his will that the museum’s collections should continue to grow and change, and so the museum has been able to acquire lovely pieces, or receive them as donations, that never were part of the original collection.

Whether you do the whole circuit of historic houses, or not, and I hope you do, this museum--with some famous masterpieces and many other works by famous and not-so-famous artists--is well worth the visit.

POLDI PEZZOLI MUSEUM
Via Manzoni, 15
T +39-02-794-889 (yes, the number has only 6 digits…it’s an indication of the age of the phone number; some numbers in Italy even have only 4 digits!)
http://www.museopoldipezzoli.it/#!/en/discover/ (I have to say that I REALLY dislike their website; it’s much too modern, doesn’t evoke the nature of their collections, and is so fragmented, I can’t find stuff easily, but they didn’t ask me, when they planned it, did they?!)


There, a lovely day of charming homey visits to some hidden gems and the Grand Old Dame of Milan, all chronologically arranged so that they make more sense. Did you notice that they're all art and architecture patrons and collectors' houses?

I hope you enjoyed yourself, and that you tell family and friends!

(And don’t forget to visit the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum...but you knew I’d say that, didn’t you?!)

Freebies entrance to civic museums every first Sunday of the month (at least until April 2015)

Good news for museum lovers...especially those with big families, or big groups of friends.

You can get into Milan's civic museums for free the first Sunday of every month -- including TOMORROW, the 7th of December, the day of Milan's patron saint Sant'Ambrogio -- at least until April 2015.

Make it a habit...then don't break it when the entrance fees kick back in.

It's really not that much, anyway, more or less like going to a movie, and--just think--museum entrance fees generally cover no more than 30-40% of a museum's BASIC budget.

Be a good joe. Go.

Enjoy!

Looking for something to do this weekend, Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th of May? Look no further! "Chiostro in fiera" is here!

Like to feel all warm and fuzzy when you support local quality crafts? Does your mouth water when you think of specialty cheeses and the like? Flowers and aromatic plants more up your alley? Want a treasure hunt, games and workshops for the little ones (all in Italian, of course!)? Like even more feeling warm and fuzzy because your money is (at least partially) helping a good cause, the cultural and didactic programs of a museum?...More......

You're in luck this weekend! "Chiostro in fiera" (Trade Fair in a Courtyard...my, my, how much less poetic it is in English) runs from Friday the 23rd of May to Sunday the 25th in the beautiful and historic courtyard of the Diocesan Museum attached to Sant'Eustorgio whose façade you see, here. The entrance to the museum is around the corner to the viewer's left.


Diocesan Museum
Corso di Porta Ticinese, 95
10:30 AM - 7:30 PM
Tram 3 stops right in front of the church in both directions

I snapped this shot on the 15th of December, 2013.

Enjoy!

The Natural History Museum of Milan...thanks, ENI

Dear You,

ENI has been so kind as to offer you free entrance to Milan's civic museums this summer. Have you gone, yet?

Next one on our list is...More......

...the Natural History Museum in the Porta Venezia public park, at the corner of Corso di Porta Venezia and via Palestro.

Outside, the building retains its late 19th century style,...

...inside Rationalism makes the hall and stairwell a light-filled and clean-lined delight.

There are collections of all kinds: minerals, mankind, bugs and...

...animals big and small in new dioramas...

...and the kind of old-fashioned cases that I remember from my childhood...

...and fascinating tidbits, such as the creatures from which the different kinds of scarlet--and their appraised qualities--come from. For the portrait of a cardinal, they have reproduced a painting by Raphael, without any credits, naughty naughty!

Dinosaurs and fossils, of course!

The museum is fairly kid-friendly...what kid doesn't love dinosaurs?!...but there also are a few displays for them, with the help of accompanying adults.

Tired and thirsty? There's a cafè upstairs, and it's handicap accessible (as the museum is...with a bit of difficulty and sending someone upstairs to get the little wheelchair lift going...if it works...). Don't wait too long, though. It closes shortly after the museum.

Right now, some rooms are closed; they're being set up for the popular traveling* "Brain" exhibit that will open in the fall. (*American English doesn't double the "l"...)

Their website isn't in English...goodness, but they'd better get on the ball in time for Expo. Here's a bit of info to help you get started: Tues.-Sun., 9 A.M. - 5:30 P.M. (last entry, 5 P.M.), closing days: all Mondays and Jan. 1, May 1, Dec. 25. For more info: +39 02 88463280.

Entry costs are reasonable (or free, for certain typical categories), but the surprise is that anyone entering the museum from 2 P.M. on a FRIDAY, or during the last hour of any day the museum is open (i.e., from 4:30 P.M.)...gets in FREE!.

Enjoy!

Museum of Ancient Art--the title misleads, the collection delights

Today's turn? The "Museum of Ancient Art"...More......

So, thanks to Eni's "Arte aperta" sponsorship of Milan's civic museums' entrance fees, we've seen the Archaeological Museum, and we've touched on the Acquarium, the Novecento Museum, and the Egyptian, Celtic and historic musical instruments collections in the Sforza Castle (the goldsmith, ceramics and ivory collections were closed that day for lack of funding for personnel, but if they are open when you go, they are worth a look).

I thought I had done a review of the Risorgimento Museum, already, but can't find it--have lots of pictures, just have to find them!--ditto for GAM-Gallerina of Modern Art (i.e., 19th century prior to modernism...it wasn't the best title choice), the Museum of Milan in Palazzo Morando (also revisited the other day) and the Natural History Museum, so those reviews hopefully will be coming, soon. Today, it's the turn of the equally misleadingly entitled "Ancient Art" Museum in the Sforza Castle, which concentrates principally on the arts of Milan from its beginnings up to the eve of the modern period.

Just about where the front gate of the castle is, that's where the ancient Roman walls passed, and the gate dedicated to Jove was.

The medieval military fort was built a bit farther out, aligned with the slightly larger circle of walls built to repulse Frederick Redbeard of Hohenstaufen, the Holy Roman Emperor as intent on the submission of the Milanese as they were to retain a bigger say in their daily affairs. The gate was just about where this one is, today. (The tower was added during a turbulent period in the late 15th century, after the dukes of Milan had moved their official residence from the palace next to the Duomo to the military fort, turning a part of it into a princely palace...some of whose goodies we'll be seeing, soon!)

Don't miss looking down into what was the moat--part of Milan's canal system--where you can see the stone cannon balls fired--probably by the French at the end of the 15th century--and the castle's cats. Go through this gate, and after passing through, turn immediately to the right.

The entrance hall, revamped a few years ago, has the gift shop, too. Toilets down below--prosaic, but helpful, info. If the handicapped elevator is working, it's here, too. The stairs head up to the goldsmith, musical instruments and ceramics collections. The Arch of the Ironworkers--one of the real arches from Milan's medieval walls--is the marker between our banal everyday world and the sublime of the "Ancient Art" museum.

Heaven starts with a few lovely ancient Roman bits and pieces (that man is blithely walking on an ancient Roman-Milanese mosaic!), and races too quickly through Milan's Longobard phase (why didn't I take any photos this time?...if I find one in my stock, I'll insert it, later) and...

...its Byzantine phase...here's the sculpted head reputedly portraying Theodora, Justinian's Empress. It's a good shot, too, of the exhibit layout by the famous architectural studio BBPR for the most part still lovely and effective, today (except for the set-up for Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà, a child of its times, setting the work apart as the fruit of a genius, precluding instructive comparisons with almost contemporary sculpture in French Milan that still breathes a Gothic air; the Pietà's display is slated for change).

A couple of rooms dedicated to medieval sculpture from Romanesque to the late medieval periods delights with sculptures, such as this 12th century dragon, and...

...the imposing equestrian tomb monument for that ol' rascal Bernabò Visconti, originally intended for under the crossing in his palace grounds church, San Giovanni in Conca (official web page available only in Italian), in today's Piazza Missori area (in that period, the government of Milan was shared between Bernabò and his brother, who lived in the other half of town), and the more Renaissance-inspired monument on columns for his wife Beatrice Regina of Verona's ruling La Scala family (we've mentioned her in previous messages)...the sarcophagus you see on the right, intended for the crypt of the same church, directly aligned with her husband's monument. The ceiling is lovely, but dates to the 16th century, the first decades of the (very long) Spanish occupation.

The ceiling in the next space, the Ascension of Christ, dates, instead, to the 15th century, and seems to indicate the space where the castle's first chapel was.

This couple of rooms also offers the fascinating possibility to see the mid 14th century sculptures by Giovanni di Balduccio once on Milan's medieval gates (only two of which survive, today),...

...the fragments and the giant print showing the façade of Santa Maria di Brera, mentioned in my post about the Pinacoteca di Brera, and...

...the spectacle of an almost complete Gothic tomb (the effigy--or reclining portrait sculpture--is missing). Just think, Italian Catholic churches were filled with these medieval beauties until that party-pooper St. Charles Borromeo appeared on the scene in the mid-16th century...he was important in the Catholic Reformation, and had as many taken down as he could manage because he thought them distracting. O.K., they were. They focused attention on the wealth and importance of the defunct, but they also were testimonies to hope.

A small room divides two larger ones, and too often is overlooked. The 14th century sculpture of Christ on the Cross (there are others upstairs) is relatively rare due to the delicate nature of the wooden material. If you look closely, Christ looks like he's taken to shaving his head...but the sculpture probably had a real hair wig.

The next room has some of the most fun things in the whole museum. As well as gorgeous, of course. Here, the two upper friezes of the Porta Romana gate of the medieval walls celebrating St. Ambrose's throwing the Arians (one of the kinds of Christianity popular until what we know as Catholicism began to win about four to five centuries after Christ's death) out of Milan...just like the Milanese had tossed out...

...Frederick Redbeard Hohenstaufen the Holy Roman Emperor also depicted on the town's gates seated elegantly crossing his legs...over a devil..., and...

...on Porta Tusa (pronounced "TOO-zah," Gate of the Girl) a woman cutting the hair off of her pubis--as prostitutes did--presumably a reference to his wife. "You're a devil, and your wife's a..." If you're going to insult someone, you'd might as well go whole hog.

The next room has tapestries (ho-hum...sorry!) and this gigantic embroidered and appliqued banner designed by Meda (who also drew up the plans for Milan's Darsena, or in-city harbor) with Milan's patron saint, Ambrose; it was carried by lots of men (darn heavy) in processions.

Be sure to peek through the windows at the "bridge," a series of rooms and a covered portico reportedly designed by Bramante for Ludovico il Moro to get a bit of fresh air while in the castle.

The next room will knock your socks off...or it should. It was Ludovico il Moro's throne room, and was decorated with a bower, landscapes and architectural ruins by Leonardo da Vinci (though it's not clear if it had been finished, completely, before the French tossed the Sforza out). The room is being restored.

The next room's frescoed ceiling is gorgeous, too: the Sforza ducal crests.

In this room, we first begin to enter the Florentine-inspired Renaissance in the Milanese dukedom. Here's a putto from Castiglione Olona, about an hour and a half away...by car...on the freeway. The Gothic-inspired tradition will continue alongside the Florentine-inspired Renaissance, and the two will share characteristics in Milan, examples can be found in this room. Go, and see for yourself!

The next room also has a lovely frescoed ceiling (red with a golden flying dove pattern in imitation of a tent) and more precious Milanese Renaissance era sculpture.

From it, you can step into my favorite room in the museum...even if they have ruined it...

...by installing a stand for an admittedly lovely painting of the period. The room was the new (late 15th century) chapel of the princely palace. The frescoes are a wonderful example of this blending of courtly Gothic and Florentine- and Padua-inspired Renaissance. The former are represented by the heavy use of gold gilding,...

...while the latter are easy to see in the classicizing motifs of the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ.

Interested in fashion? Look again at the preceding photo with the standing sculpture of a woman...it turns out to be the late 15th century adoring Madonna del coazzione, or "Madonna with the long special pony-tail." The "coazzione" was a very very long (often bound) pony-tail stretching down to the woman's calves.

Even the rich brocade of her gown is rendered.

The subsequent long gallery offers lots of fun for the guys...and gals: arms and armor of the centuries past, as well as Renaissance portals and reliefs coming from buildings in town.

Next comes the room with the enigma of the BBPR display of...

...Michelangelo's Pietà purchased in the 1950s, and put behind a gigantic wooden room divider,...

...separating it from this almost contemporary, yet thoroughly old-fashioned, effigy of the French king's nephew, a brave commander who fell in battle at a young age.

Exiting you pass a precious source of water (especially during a siege!) in the shape of the decoration on a warrior's helmet, or maybe a chess piece...or both!

Exiting, turn left twice, and go up the (long and shallow for horses in the absence of elevators!) steps to see the decorative arts and eventually the painting collections, for which one example each is going to have to suffice.

This sleeping putto is from 17th century Germany. It tops a coffer, or little precious box.

O.K., I said one, but I couldn't resist. Here's a 16th and 17th century automaton that probably scared the heck out of its observers. Nevertheless, each time I see it, the creature's well-modelled and beautiful bust, shoulders and arms remind me of the representations by Sodoma and by Bramante (the latter at the Pinacoteca di Brera) of Christ being whipped at the column.

This detail of d'Oggiono's wedding feast at Cana will show you how artists were LOOKING at their surroundings. The sleeve is bicolor because the fabric is cangeante, changeable in color (a factor depending on the way two colors of threads are woven together).

Leaving by the eastern gate reminds me to point out two things to you: (1) look at the newer, fresher appearance of the brick in the crenellated area...those have been restored, and (2) (paid) guided tours of them are available...probably only in Italian, but check here, and call, just in case.

I do so hate to leave you after having so much fun together, so as my good-bye present here's an extra snap that takes in one of the ruins of the larger complex defensive structures and walls that ranged around the castle and the castle, itself. I hope you've had fun, too, and been stimulated to visit the Sforza Castle and its collections for yourself.

Enjoy!