We looked at a little bit of art and architecture. We started at Santa Maria presso San Satiro.
It is a mostly Renaissance church with some Romanesque elements in its structure. I wanted to see it because of a Bramante designed apse.
It is one of the first uses of trompe l’oeil in Renaissance architecture. The apse’s depth is an illusion which can be seen when looked at from a side angle.
A two-minute walk away is the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana.
It has the largest collection of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks. I asked in Italian and the attendant answered in English (grr) but misdirected us to the entrance to the Leonardo room. By that point Scott had enough of stairs and standing about so we did not retrace our steps. Nevertheless we saw what I really wanted to look at: Caravaggio’s still life, Basket of Fruit.
There are a number of good paintings including Titian:
Leonardo’s student Luini
A small Giorgione
There is a good display and video about the cartoon, the full scale drawing in preparation of a fresco, for part of Raphael’s School of Athens, which is in the Vatican.
Leaving the Ambrosiana, we walked through Piazza dei Mercanti, the medieval city centre of Milan. The buildings are interesting.
Palazzo del Ragione
Had lunch at the restaurant in the Museo Novecento, which has great views of the Duomo.
It’s truffle season. I had risotto with white truffle.
Scott had egg in a mushroom cheese sauce with black truffle.
At the hotel we checked out the terrace which did not have such great views, only from one corner could you see the Duomo.
While Scott napped, I walked around a bit. Saw a display for Alberto Tomba, the winner of the men’s downhill gold at the Calgary Olympics. There are a number of structures and displays in preparation for the 2026 winter Olympics which are going to be in Milan and Cortina.
I went to Peck, a deli, bistrot and enoteca. The white truffle was on sale for 8,820 EU/kg.
Bought 3 Brunello di Montalcino wines, we still have one we brought from Florence. Hope we still have some to take on the train Wednesday.
For dinner, we went to Paper Moon Giardino, where Scott had a good meal last year. We sat inside although some people chose to sit outside in the garden.
