The Sforza Castle of Milan

Reach the Sforza Castle of Milan by bike, cycling along the path close to the canal. Then visit this grandiose centuries-old castle which has changed its nature several times according to the historical periods and dominations.

Nowadays it is the home of museums, libraries, archives and tourism as well. Most importantly there’s the Sala delle Asse, a wonderful place conceived by Leonardo Da Vinci, that was brought back to light as a result of some restoration work.

 

⇒ Watch the full web serie Milan & Leonardo da Vinci

Visit Sforza Castle official website

Visit Turismo Milano official website

Visit Hotel Concorde Milano website

 

Video full text: Sforza Castle

This is the famous and traffic-congested Viale Monza.
I don’t have my bike any more, but the hotel should have some!
I’ll go and ask, they may even lend me one.
Whose are those bikes?
They’re ours, for our guests’ use.
OK. Can I take one then?
Of course, and we can also give you a map showing all of the city’s cycle paths.
I’ll show you, it’s easy.
We’re here, at the Hotel Concorde.
If you take Via della Martesana, the name of Milan’s historic canal, you’ll be heading for the centre of the city.
I’ll take it! Can you open it up for me?
Did you start doing this before the local council began its own bike sharing scheme?
Yes, several years ago.
There’s the old Martesana mill over there, and this is the canal.
A Milan that is totally unthinkable.
Will I get through?
And to think that this canal arrives here from Trezzano d’Adda,
it really is a laudable piece of work.
This segregated cycle path, that’s close to the canal, is in a place that looks like a totally different Milan,
that of the 19th century, from another age, perhaps even that of Leonardo da Vinci, well almost,
and it leads to the castle.
It’s quite a few kilometres, using this cycle path, that can also be covered by running, if one has the energy.
I have the energy to cycle there!
So here I am at the grandiose Sforza Castle, where Claudio is waiting for me.
Welcome to Sforza Castle.
Is it possible to sum up the history of this centuries-old castle in a second?
We’ll try.
Its origins date back to the Visconti family, in the second half of the 14th century.
We are in one of the oldest areas, the Pusterla, within the boundary of Azzone.
This corresponds to the era of the House of Visconti,
who reinforced one of the city’s oldest gateways.
Its true glory came with Francesco Sforza, who made it the headquarters of the city’s rulers.
His successors, Galeazzo Maria and Ludwig the Moor, transformed it into one of the most famous courts of the renaissance period.
Decay then ensued, and with the Spanish period the castle became a fortress.
That was until the arrival of Napoleon, who knocked down the outer walls,
in order to lessen the architectural and the military impact as well.
Yes, it must have been frightening!
Then, during the unitary period, and the Austrian period before that, it returned to being a barracks.
From the towers the Austrians would shoot at people during the Five Days of Milan.
They would cannonade the insurgents and patriots.
The Milanese were holed up in here.
Once the Austrians had been ousted it was viewed as a symbol of tyranny.
With Italy’s unification the castle once again became a barracks and the Milanese wanted to destroy it.
But the architect and historian Luca Beltrami along with the Committee of the Milanese, managed to save it,
and they turned it into a centre for culture, which is what it is today.
It is the home of museums, libraries, archives and tourism as well.
There are so many visitors in this huge area.
Huge, as most things are in Milan! From the Duomo to the Castle.
Most importantly there’s the Sala delle Asse, a wonderful place,
that was brought back to light as a result of some restoration work.
Beneath 18 layers of plaster we found drawings by the maestro Leonardo.
Leonardo had conceived it with the mind of a modern designer,
somebody else finished it.
He didn’t have the time, he had too many commitments!
Let’s go and have a look at the Sala delle Asse.
It’s undergoing restoration work that will take another few years.
In addition to the preservation work, there’s also the research site,
where we try to get some idea of what lies beneath these replasterings.
We’re going to climb up onto the scaffolding that leads to where they’re working
to clean these images that are undoubtedly attributable to Leonardo.
This is a preparatory drawing,
or even a trompe l’oeil, a monochrome that’s done and finished.
It’s a trunk, a root that entangles itself into a mass of stones.
The base was drawn in charcoal, the shadows were painted with a brush.
These plants are the result of a naturalistic study,
it’s all an intertwining, with the bows there on top.
His intention was undoubtedly to astound, this was an elegant room for receptions,
reserved for the court. Les Jardins de Milano
He must really have researched this intertwining very closely,
perhaps by thinking about the vineyard that was given to him as a present by Ludwig.
He looked closely at the intertwining of the vegetation.
These columns are trees with roots that entangle themselves into the brickwork.
Something that’s both archaic and ancient.
A sort of canopy, held up by sixteen black mulberry trees.
So-called morone (large moor), thus evoking the name of Ludwig the Moor!
The Milanese were very grateful to Ludwig, known as the Moor,
because it was he who introduced the mulberry tree for the breeding of silkworms.
Silk was a key part of Lombardy’s economy.
Or perhaps it was Ludwig himself who asked Leonardo to create this room.
He got him to think about it and design it, in part so as to use the characteristics of the black mulberry to represent him, the Moor.
What problems did you encounter in the restoration of this room?
There are all the different layers of a variety of plasters, that had to be scraped away using scalpels.
There’s the actual numbering: 5… 4… 3… 2… 1.
And here’s Leonardo’s preparatory drawing!
It would seem that these parts were never ever coloured.
Perhaps because of the arrival of the French, or perhaps because he was distracted, as always.
There’s also a socio-political aspect:
Ludwig the Moor was forced to flee with all of his court, including Leonardo.
This is Leonardo’s ghost! Look!
It was probably summoned up by a restorer at some point.
The problem of the restoration is very important.
We Italians lead the way in this sector and we don’t exactly make it simple:
it’s important to have an understanding of the material he used and to proceed, one centimetre at a time.
The amount of work we do every day depends on the portion,
but sometimes, in an entire day, we only do a few centimetres.
We invite you to come back very soon!
Also because we’re really the first.
All of this is made possible thanks to financial backers,
who fund this really slow but truly important work.
Today, as it was then, art has to be aided, funded, supported.
That was Leonardo’s way of thinking as well.
It needs money.
I mean, what did those Japanese see of this room if they didn’t see what we saw?
Naturally there is also a video presentation that will tell us.
“The room we are in now, known as delle Asse (of the wooden boards),
was created on the instructions of the Duke of Milan, Ludwig the Moor”
And you’ll be able to hear everything I have just told you, thanks to the voice of a hologram.
“This was the decoration of the vault, just as we see it today”.