This video has accurate SUBTITLES, I recommend to visualize them.
It is a journey through history of the Duomo, including that of the Duomo that could have been and never was, because of the many projects created for its façade.
The English text and narrating voice are those of Carlo Rolle, whose RU-vid channel with history, art and ancient literature.
By looking carefully at the façade of Milan’s Duomo, you can see that the classical form of the portals and the windows does not correspond to the Gothic style of the cathedral.
The area of the Duomo was once occupied by different buildings: the cathedral of Santa Tecla with the baptistery of San Giovanni and that of Santa Maria Maggiore with the baptistery of Santo Stefano.
In 1386, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti became Duke of Milan, it was decided to construct a larger cathedral that would replace the two churches. The two baptisteries and Santa Tecla were demolished. The church of Santa Maria Maggiore, gradually incorporated into the new building, was demolished later on. Its façade served for decades as temporary façade for the new cathedral, and was eventually demolished in 1638. The oldest images of the new cathedral show that it was flanked by two large bell towers of a style that matched that of the side buttresses.
In the XVI century, there was a debate on whether the new façade should be in Gothic style or in the "Roman style". Martino Bassi drew several sketches, marked by the absence of bell towers. Tolomeo Rinaldi proposed a project, which foresaw a façade on two orders with a central pronaos and grandiose bell towers on the sides.
A contest among the best architects was held. Tibaldi designed a façade reminding of the Escorial. Gigantic Corinthian columns, about 24m high, supported an impressive cornice protruding almost 5m from the profile of the façade. For the sides, Tibaldi proposed two tall bell towers on 3 orders. The stone suitable for the columns was found near Baveno. The columns were to be transported by a large boat that, after crossing the lake and sailing along the Ticino and the Naviglio Grande, would reach Milan. It was necessary to carry out hydraulic works, such as the enlargement of the locks, the demolition of a few bridges and of certain buildings on the portion of the canal running through the city.
The project of Tibaldi was further elaborated with many variations, incorporated into the final project of Fabio Mangone. In 1628, finally the operations for the transport of the first column began. However its weight broke the ropes that held it, and the fractured column ended up at the bottom of the lake. Mangone, mortified by this failure, died in the following year.
In 1638, Carlo Buzzi succeeded Francesco Richini in the Factory of the Duomo. In 1645, due to the difficulties posed by the huge marble columns to the construction, Buzzi presented his own project, which preserved the classical elements already completed, but took up the gothic motifs of the cathedral, and included two high bell towers on the sides of the façade.
In contrast with it, the project of Francesco Castelli, proposed a completely new design, a reinterpretation of Tibaldi's old project in a pseudo Gothic style, with shorter and spiral columns, a portico with pointed arches and an upper tympanum.
Over the following decades, countless projects were presented, in which the Baroque style coexisted with the Gothic one, while classical elements were mostly hidden by a portico. However, the works remained suspended for a long time. Only in 1683, the old façade was demolished and the new front was closed with masonry works to support the first span of the church.
In 1805, upon insistance of Napoleon Bonaparte, a project of Felice Soave was chosen, which maintained the original profile of a gabled cathedral without destroying what had been already built. Napoleon promised that the cost for the completion of the Duomo would be carried by France. At that point, the works were finally completed within seven years.
In 1884, Aristide De Togni bequeathed a large sum for changing the Duomo's façade, completed in a hurry and with poor materials. An international competition was launched, to which more than one 120 competitors took part. Giuseppe Brentano was the winner, but he died at the end of 1889, without being able to complete the executive drawings of his project. In the meantime, it became clear that it was not possible to finance the reconstruction of the entire façade: the works, which had just begun, were suspended in 1902. A commission was appointed for the reform of the crowning element, in danger of a partial collapse. A different project for the decorations was completed in 1925. In the following decades the doors will be completed
In 1938 Mussolini announced the construction of a 164m-high bell tower that should have become the tallest in the world. It all came to nothing, because shortly thereafter Italy went to war.
4 окт 2024
