Every work of art is a surprise. But even more so when dogs, cats, serpents, birds and monkeys make way for more unusual animals, such as toads, for instance. And if the artist places a toad on its back under the figure of Archangel Michael, the mystery increases along with the curiosity. So what does this animal represent? At the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Madonna of the Towers, masterpiece by Bramantino, dating back to the start of the XVI Century, communicates, from the point of view of content, a clear position against the fear of heresy, the evident total defeat of evil through faith. The Virgin seated on a monumental marble throne, covered with a red drape, solemnly hands a palm to Saint Ambrose. The Saint is kneeling on the left, right in front of Archangel Michael who entrusts the effigy of the work’s patron to Baby Jesus who is seated on the lap of the Virgin, ready to receive it. In this symmetrical game of mirrors where the subjects correspond (the two angels are complementary as are the two towers behind them), the two symbols of evil are only glimpsed, placed at the bottom of the painting by the artist. The dead man at the foot of Ambrose is the great heresiarch Arius, symbol of Aryanism, ideally defeated by the faith of the Saint. The disturbing image of the toad placed by Bramantino below Michael represents wickedness defeated.
Galtrucco, the Fabrics that enchanted the Women of the Twentieth Century
The exhibition aims to revive the years of activity of the historic Milanese fabric shop, through a narrative path that begins in the 1920s, followed by dark historical events such as the Second World War, but also by the economic recovery of the 1960s up to the beginning of the new millennium.
Protagonist on the podium of a memorable edition of the opera in 2015 with the brilliant show by Robert Carsen, Daniele Gatti returns to the La Scala pit six years after his last opera conducting with Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi.
The Poetics of Contemporary Landscape in the Photographs of Giovanni Chiaramonte
40 photographs to retrace the artistic path of Giovanni Chiaramonte, a central figure in Italian photography, who contributed to the poetic-conceptual redefinition of the image of the contemporary landscape.
George Hoyningen-Huene, the Pioneer of Fashion Photography
To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the birth of one of the pioneers of fashion photography, the exhibition offers a selection of over 100 photographs, with platinum prints that enhance the George Hoyninen-Huene's elegant and sober style, as well as underlining the innovative use of printing techniques and the artistic influences that marked his