Words from Eminent Poets and Writers

Visit Milan Cathedral, walk around its naves, and be amazed by the grandeur of its interior spaces. The light that filters through the decorated stained-glass windows becomes an active element in reading and understanding the surrounding space. Today, as in the past, the emotions and suggestions aroused by viewing the cathedral's windows are fertile ground for getting to know the monument. So it will come as no surprise to discover—among other things—testimonies written by poets and great authors who have put into words the very strong emotion of an encounter with the cathedral. Gifting eternal ideas to us, to be treasured.

"The decorated stained-glass windows, the massive granite columns laden with ancient figures, the silver lamps that burn unceasingly under the black fabric canopies near the bronze altar, and the carved marble of the vault give the naves a certain aspect of a sumptuous sepulchre. There is a solitary place among them, beyond the altar, under the decorated stained-glass windows, where the daylight is soft and golden; I decided to go there to read Dante." 

We looked up as we walked around, at those monstrously big windows with bright colored scenes from the life of the Saviour and his disciples. Some of these representations were done in mosaic, and the thousands of little pieces of colored glass or stone have been put together so artistically that the work has the delicacy and finish of a painting. We counted 60 glass panels within a single window, and each panel was adorned with one of these masterly works of genius and patience.