Sunday, May 31 Milano

Sunday, May 31

Today we continued to explore the city of Milan. We got a tour around the city where we got to explore some memorable monuments. We went to Castello Sforzesco, and Milan’s Cathedral along with a tour around the city.  Inside of this Castello we came across a very sculpture that was built by Michelangelo named the Pieta. The Pieta is the moment where Jesus is off the cross and the mother is sustaining him. This sculpture was his first version of the Pieta and it has an arm that doesn’t belong to the sculpture. Also in the head of Maria there is another eye and another nose. This represented the contradiction of Michelangelo as an artist and that he was never satisfied with his work. Many times he would start work then set aside and then return to it to finish it at a later time. Michelangelo was a very jealous artist and he was always worried that they would steal ideas from his work. Inside of a museum they also has a sculpture of Michelangelo head where he had a scar on his nose from getting punched. The Pieta was left by Michelangelo as a gift to one of his servants. I had no idea that Leonardo da Vinci organized parties for the Duke.  Inside the Castello we came across the Alfa Romeo on one of the barracks. Our guide also mentioned that the stairs on this monument weren’t large because in there they would take their horses up the stairs all the way to their room.

After two weeks being in Italy we have heard in every the Duomo’s are located in the heart of the city. In Milan our guide told us that a church becomes a cathedral until it has enough bishops. Around the Castello she mentioned that there was a wall build by the Spanish and then knocked down in order to continue expanding the city of Milan. Out of all the work Leonardo had done in the city of Milan there is not much left because a lot of it has been restored.  We also came across a Black Room, which was also known as the Sala Negra where the Duke would go inside to cry. Milano is a very modern city. In Milano they mentioned that people were more serious and for the most part they don’t smile. People in this city are usually working all the time.  I had no idea Leonardo was the Duke’s military engineer and after hearing this about him it just makes me continue wanting to learn more about the history of these famous artist.  I wouldn’t have guessed that in the city of Milano about 80 percent of the buildings got damaged due to bombing.