Two Weeks in Milan
Part of my summer plan was
to purposely stay in Milan for two weeks to both experience the city that I
live so close to and to take Italian classes.
The Italian classes were
overall a success. I spent three hours
every morning at Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci.
The first week’s teacher, Simona was great: enthusiastic, energetic, and exciting. We worked on reading, writing, speaking, and
vocabulary. Plus, we were conversing
with each other so our class got to know each other a bit. The second week Irene taught our class. It was vocabulary driven and there was less
emphasis on speaking and conversation.
The class was smaller yet we did not know each other as well. I did meet one really cool other student who
has been working in Milan but needs more Italian to really secure a job
here. It was interesting to see what was
taught without words:
My afternoons were spent
exploring the city. School was on a
canal and I would walk up to the center of the city to have lunch and
sightsee. Here is a summary of what I
did. I’m not sure it will make you want
to rush off to visit Milan, but in case you do end up here, you know what you
are getting.
Museums:
(They are free and mostly
air-conditioned during the summer months.
Great reason to go even if the subject is not your thing.)
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| View from Museo del Novecento |
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| Work by Carla Accardi |
Pros: The
location and architecture gives this museum spectacular views of the city
center. It is as if the walls/windows
are their own constantly changing art. The contemporary art here is actually pretty
interesting. There are of course some
pieces that make no sense to me. I did
luckily discover Lucio Fontana and Carla Accardi.
Cons: There is a
good reason most of us have not heard of the Novecento Movement. Have you heard of Matisse, Cezanne, and
Picasso? Well, this is not a museum of
their work. It is work that was
influenced by these painters, but done by Italian artists. They took the interesting techniques and
subjects of their contemporaries and made them as boring as they could. There was a whole room of Cezanne-like
landscapes but in even more boring colors and uninteresting subjects. Futurism is a less exciting type of cubism/pointilism
from what I could tell. It should be
interesting too since it is less static.
I think the Novecento Movement gave way to current graffiti
artists. P.S. The audioguide is terribly boring; way too
much music and not enough information!
Pros: There is a
wide variety of art here so there will be probably be something that interests
you. There are painters you have heard
of here. Hayez’s “The Kiss” is
here. It is very, very Robin Hood. The workers here are generally friendly.
Cons: There were
no labels on much of the work and certainly no written English (or other
language) explanations of anything.
Parts of the 20th century room were being closed but with no
explanation. Perhaps it wasn’t a
long-term thing.
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| Awesome ceilings |
Pros: Uh, you’re inside a castle, duh! Leonardo Da Vinci ceiling and other cool painted ceilings. The room of ancient armor and weapons. Michelangelo’s final work (a pieta). The Egyptian collection. The nice courtyard with a little pond.
Cons: Crowded
with tour groups. Skimpy bookstore.
Pros:
A very cool replica of what the
walled city of Milan used to look like.
Parts of the ancient wall in the museum and courtyard. The Polygonal Tower that was used as a
monastery chapel. Beautiful old paintings. Wide span of ancient history. Attached to the beautiful church St.
Maurizio.
Cons: Got very
hot as you moved upstairs.
Churches: Generally free to go in, but to see the
crypts or other parts there is generally a small fee.
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| St. Ambrose |
1.
St. Ambrose: Church named for the patron
saint of Milan. It is large and
OLD. 300s. There is a beautiful chapel
with a golden mosaic ceiling featuring St. Ambrose. Don’t miss the dead bodies under the
altar!
2.
St.
Lorenzo: Near the popular
Colonne. St. Lorenzo has chapel and
mosaics from the 5th century.
The crypt has a very low ceiling and is not good for
claustrophobics.
3.
St.Eustorgio: I couldn’t get in the church itself, but the
crypt was very simple. The museum of the
relics held there was interesting especially the crowned skulls. The Portinari Chapel was very beautiful. There was a monotone, accented,
English-speaking guide who yelled his information at you as he explained why
the Chapel is so special. There are
many, many examples of St. Peter the Martyr being chopped in the head by a
heretic and also of Peter’s miracle of the cloud. Uh, making it cloudy hardly seems to warrant
the term “miracle,” but what do I know?!
4.
St. Simpliciano: This is a very quiet church and very
tall! Simple yet spacious it felt very
holy to me. The old, old chapel hidden
away was beautiful but I found the statue of Jesus very disturbing. When you looked at him from a certain angle
he looked like he was a psychotic clown and it really ruined the holy feeling I
originally got.
5.
St.
Maurizio This is a church that has 16th
century painting on the walls. It is
very small and intimate, but behind the entrance chapel there is long hall called
the Convent hall. It is splendid.
6.
St.
Narzaro: This is a church built just outside the walls
of Milan in the 300s. There are a lot of
ruins there and during work hours The Touring Club of Italy is there to give
you a tour of the grounds.
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| Trompe d'oeil at St. Satiro |
7.
St. Maria Presso San Satiro: This
church is probably one of the coolest because it has a fake wall. The wall appears 3D but is really only a flat
wall. Wow!!! Genius artist.
8.
Cimitero Monumentale: Ok, this
isn’t really a church, but it houses a collection of dead from various religions. The cemetery is called Monumentale because it
is huge!!! It goes on and on. There is some form of art attached to every
grave. Amazing and slightly overwhelming!
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