The Façade of Milan’s Duomo ( discovering Milan 5 )

This video for yesmilano.com shows some rare images about Milan’s Duomo. It is not simply a video about the history of Milan’s Duomo, but also a journey through the Duomo that could have been and never was, because of the many different projects created for its façade. An Italian edition of this video is available on Andrea Rui’s YouTube Channel and on the website yesmilano.com. The English text and narrating voice are those of Carlo Rolle, whose YouTube channel deals with medieval history and ancient literature. The area of the Duomo was once occupied by different buildings: the summer cathedral of Santa Tecla with the baptistery of San Giovanni and the winter cathedral 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. 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 seven 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 open to the best architects was held. Tibaldi designed a façade reminding of the Escorial. Gigantic Corinthian columns, about 24 meters high, supported an impressive cornice protruding almost 5 meters from the profile of the façade. For the sides, Tibaldi proposed two tall bell towers on three orders. The stone suitable for the columns was found on the mountain of 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 some 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 direction of the Factory of the Duomo. In 1645, given 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 insistence of Napoleon Bonaparte, a project of Felice Soave was eventually chosen: a solution that 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, the question arose, whether it was really necessary to destroy the nice parts that had been created over centuries by so many artists. It also became clear that it would not have been possible to finance the reconstruction of the entire façade: the works, which had just begun, were suspended in 1902. It was decided to appoint a commission for the reform of the crowning element, in danger of a partial collapse. In 1910, a different project was developed for the decorations, and was completed in 1925. In the following decades the doors will be completed.