Page 200 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

198  NOR THWEST IT AL Y

Exploring Milan interiors of the building and
showcases the four historic
In addition to the great monuments in Milan, such as phases of the palace, including
the cathedral and the castle, there is a host of varied and the Neo-Classical era and the
interesting museums, churches and civic buildings, which Restoration. Palazzo Reale is
provide an enthralling mix of old and new. This chic and also a prestigious venue for
temporary art exhibitions. The
busy metropolis offers plenty of opportunities for cultural building abutting it to the west
activities, gastronomic adventures, designer-fashion (the Arengario) now houses a
shopping or just strolling about, Milan-style. modern art museum, the Museo
del Novecento, and many
Italian works of art from the 20th
century are displayed here.
E Villa Belgiojoso
Bonaparte and Galleria
d’Arte Moderna (GAM)
Via Palestro 16. Tel 02 88 44 59 47.
Open 9am–7:30pm Tue–Sun. 7 &
∑ gam-milano.com
Milan’s 19th-century and modern
art collections are housed in
a Neo-Classical villa built by
Leopold Pollack in 1790 for Count
Ludovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso.
The glass ceiling and dome covering the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II It was lived in by Napoleon
in 1802 and later by Marshal
P Galleria Vittorio may be seen stepping on Radetzky. The villa houses
Emanuele II the genitals of Taurus the Bull, 19th-century Italian art, showing
Main entrances on Piazza del Duomo which is said to bring good luck. all the major art movements, as
and Piazza della Scala. well as the Grassi and Vismara
This ornate shopping arcade, E Palazzo Reale collections of 19th- and
known as il Salotto di Milano Piazza del Duomo. Open 9:30am– 20th-century Italian and foreign
(Milan’s drawing room), was 7:30pm daily (Mon: from 2:30pm; Thu artists and the Marino Marini
designed by the architect & Sat: to 10:30pm). Museo della Reggia: Museum. Of particular note
Giuseppe Mengoni in 1865. 7 & ∑ palazzorealemilano.it are works by Giorgio Morandi
The Galleria had a tragic start, Museo del Novecento: Via Marconi 1. (1890 –1964), Carlo Carrà (1881–
however, as Mengoni fell to his ∑ museo delnovecento.org 1966), as well as by Modigliani
death from the scaffolding not The former royal palace, for (1884 –1920) and De Chirico
long before its inauguration in centuries home to the Visconti (1888–1978). Non-Italian artists
1877 (a year before the arcade and other rulers of Milan, include Van Gogh, Cézanne,
was actually finished). Tourists houses the Museo della Reggia. Gauguin, Picasso, Matisse, Klee,
are nevertheless attracted to It displays the sumptuous Mondrian and Kandinsky.
its stylish shops and cafés, as
well as Savini, one of Milan’s
historic restaurants.
The Galleria itself has a
floorplan in the shape of a
Latin cross, with an octagonal
centre adorned with mosaics
representing four continents
(Europe, America, Africa and
Asia), together with others
representing Art, Agriculture,
Science and Industry. Its
finest feature is its metal and
glass roof, crowned with a
magnificent central dome.
The roof was the first structure
in Italy to use metal and glass
in a structural way, rather than
just decoratively. The floors are
decorated with mosaics of the
signs of the zodiac; tourists Still Life (1920) by Giorgio Morandi in the Galleria d’Arte Moderna
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp565–9 and pp584–90

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Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.9)
Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm