Milan: tour of the Monumentale Cemetery

The Monumentale Cemetery is probably Milan’s most important location. Above the central entrance we see the statue of Gloria, that welcomes the illustrious names of our country’s past.

The Cemetery itself, it is virtually an open-air park museum: the tombs and the burial chapels are constructed in different styles and built in different ways, that could tell the history of the city of Milan!

 

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Video full text: Tour of the Monumentale Cemetery

I’m late for my visit to what is probably Milan’s most important location.
The Monumentale Cemetery in Milan!
There is a guide who is explaining things.
Above the central entrance we see the statue of Gloria,
that welcomes the illustrious names of our country’s past.
This part of the monument is called the famedio (memorial chapel),
that was to have been a church but was then used to accommodate the famous names of Milan.
The famedio, from the Latin fame aedes (temple of fame)
is the main entrance to the Monumentale Cemetery,
that was built between 1864 and 1868, to a design by Carlo Maciachini.
We climb this majestic flight of steps and enter the actual famedio.
Beneath the sky blue vault of the famedio lie the most important tombs:
Alessandro Manzoni, Giuseppe Verdi and Carlo Cattaneo.
Now the problem is this: it was built at the end of the 19th century,
and naturally, they put those people in here that were important at the time.
But how does one decide “who is famous”?
Who is it who decides which of these individuals is to be honoured with a burial in the famedio?There is a specific committee that has been in place since 1927. Since then the committee, consisting of the presidency of the city’s Municipal Council, every year selects 14 names that can be admitted into the famedio’s pantheon.
Names that have made Milan famous the world over:
Luca Ronconi, Elio Fiorucci, Enzo Iannacci and Franca Rame.
We’re now making our way into the cemetery itself.
Ahead of us is the central avenue with parallel avenues that intersect one another at 90 degrees.
It is virtually an open-air park museum.
The tombs and the burial chapels are constructed in different styles and built in different ways
that could tell the history of the city of Milan.
Giancarlo Maciachini managed to combine more than one style in a harmonious amalgamation:
from Pisan Romanesque, to Lombard Gothic to the Byzantine of Ravenna.
There are also so many examples of Liberty, so many styles.
There’s architectural eclecticism here to suit all tastes.
We have the Duomo, in miniature.
There’s the inevitable Egyptian style with the papyrus flowers!
What I find really striking, set against this backdrop of death,
is a rustic depiction of Mother Earth, with two oxen pulling.
A recurring image is that of the female figure,
like a sort of reminder of the bosom, a return to the womb.
Some of these images are also very erotic,
they reflect the period, and have this idea of love and Thanatos.
This too is part of their beauty and the beauty of the cemetery.
This is dedicated to Isabella Airoldi, a young woman who perhaps died in child birth, at the age of twenty-four. she was the wife of a noble baron Casati.
The bare bosom caused quite a stir at the time.
In the middle of the necropolis we find a majestic monument.
There are around twenty panels containing more than 110 fully-rounded statues.
Throughout the 20th century the Milan’s well-to-do families almost challenged one another
in order to leave their mark on the Monumentale.
The size of the Falck family’s burial chapel increased on a par with that of the Bocconi family,
as though they were competing against each other.
The extension of the chapel kept pace with the family’s financial fortunes.
If it was extended, it meant they had made some money.
Over there is the monument to the Campari family, and it depicts the last supper.
And what comes to mind is that it is not a supper, but more of an aperitif.
It is an imposing monument and one of the best known in the Monumentale.
It takes up Leonardo’s idea of the last supper.
We see the chalice that is out of proportion to everything else.
Some say it is because it alludes to the family’s business,
others say it is because it is the Holy Grail and we don’t know its actual size.
Take a careful look. Can anyone tell me where Judas is and how did you recognise him?
Judas is the ugliest and meanest looking, the one with the cantankerous face.
Well done!
Another point of interest. If we move to the rear, we can see the bag with the coins.
It actually has the face of Judas.
Down there we can see the new skyscrapers, an incredible view
that says to us “you may beaver away in life” but when all is said and done we all end up here,
and leave empty-handed!
As we enter this world, so we leave it.
We can build all the monuments we like,
but let’s remember that all that we leave behind is what we have done.