Milan

 

October 8, 2021

Milan

Well, given one day in Milan what would you see?  Our Smithsonian trip allows us just the one day, and chose for us.  We began with timed tickets for the Last Supper of Michelangelo.  The restrictions on admission are severe; tickets are sold out months in advance, and are issued too you as an individual.  We have a couple on our trip who signed up just a couple of weeks ago, and they were unable to visit.

The Last Supper was painted for the refectory of the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie over a period of four years.  In this photo, the refectory is part of the plain buildings at the left:

 

 The church itself is rather unremarkable, but it does have a special frieze:

Each small admitted group (about 15 people) has 15 minutes in the medium-sized room which has the painting at one end:

 

Our guide gave us a short lecture as we spent time with the paining.  Here are photos of the left and the right sides:

We then drove to the center of Milan, a bustling and thriving city which is the fashion center of the world, and the financial center of Italy.  Our next stop was at the La Scala Opera, where we began in the very wonderful museum.  On the walls of the museum are multiple giant poster programs; here’s one from 1928 promoting a performance of Lucia di Lammermoor conducted by Arturo Toscanini:

 

There are busts and paintings of famous stars; here’s Caruso:

There are some instruments on display including this beautiful virginal (a sort of harpsichord):

 

From the museum, we entered the main lobby of the opera house where there is a massive bust of Toscanini:

 

We entered the opera house via boxes on the third level.  The only row seats are on the floor of the orchestra, all other seats are in boxes which originally were privately owned.  The box we were in seats six, but only two up front in the box and the view (and I imagine the sound) for the four seats further back in the box is probably limited.  The theater was dark while we were there, with a couple of men on the stage and, I suppose, the director and the lighting director seated at tables in the middle of the floor.  We watched them move the men around and light them in multiple different ways, clearly preparing for a production.

After visiting the opera, we walked to the cathedral which is right in the middle of the city.  It is an absolutely enormous and imposing Baroque structure, which holds 40,000 people, making it the third largest church in the world:

 

Among the statuary on the outside of the cathedral is what is said to be the inspiration for the design of the Statue of Liberty:

The interior is astonishing in scope and size.  My photos cannot do it justice, but here’s an idea.  The columns which support the roof seem to rise to heaven:

 

Among the many remarkable works of art in the cathedral is a sculpture of St. Bartholomew skinned alive, carved by Marco d’Agrate in 1562.  The drapes over his body are his skin:

After visiting the cathedral, we wandered the area, window-shopping at Prada, Cartier, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Fendi and the like.  We didn’t buy anything.  Back, then to Stresa, and a rest before we found a lovely place for dinner.  The food was excellent, but one thing was beyond special.  For a first, we shared an enhanced caprese salad, I forget the name, but it was tomatoes, mozzarella and avocados.  Along with it came plain extra virgin olive oil, plus a selection of flavored olive oils—truffle, citrus, and basil.  They were outstanding, especially the truffle.  A true wow.

Tomorrow we have more lectures on the lakes here, and more visits to them.