Joys and Sorrows of the Virgin
The inauguration of the Cathedral's great door took place after a series of events. Lodovico Pogliaghi received the direct assignment from the Veneranda Fabbrica in 1884, but it was only in 1891 that he presented an initial design for the door. Following public protests by a group of artists at the direct assignment to Pogliaghi, in 1894 they agreed to hold a competition, which reconfirmed the commission for the artist. The contract was signed in 1897, and the work was completed a decade later.
Main Door of Milan Duomo (1906) by Ludovico PogliaghiVeneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano
Milan Duomo Main Door was dedicated to Joys and Sorrow of the Virgin Mary and placed in 1906.
An elegant example of the Liberty Style, the tree of life can be seen at the center of the door, its branches reaching out to the shutters and outlining square panels within which episodes from the life of Mary are represented.
The Sorrows of the Virgin are depicted on the left shutter, the Joys on the right one. The episode representing Crowning of Virgin Mary dominates the fixed fanlight.
Model for the Duomo's Main Door (1891) by Lodovico PogliaghiVeneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano
The design submitted by Pogliaghi in 1891 is displayed today within the Milan Duomo Museum, together with some sketches of actual panels, valuable testimonies to the sculptor's work.
Sketches for the Duomo's Main Door (1891/1904) by Lodovico PogliaghiVeneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano
The sketch presented 22 Marian scenes, responding to the iconographic program laid down by Monsignor Ajroldi Aliprandi. Scenes rigorously inserted into a compositional system deemed to be too rigid.
Model for the Duomo's Main Door (1891) by Lodovico PogliaghiVeneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano
The visitation (1902) by Lodovico PogliaghiVeneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano
Late Gothic decorative designs guided Pogliaghi's work, and among the various sketches he submitted was one depicting the episode of the visitation, displayed today within the Museum.
Lashing (1904) by Lodovico PogliaghiVeneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano
In close proximity to the plaster models, there is also a bronze depicting the episode of the Scourging, probably based on a 1904 sketch by Pogliaghi.
Main Door of Milan Duomo (1906) by Ludovico PogliaghiVeneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano
A sketch that departs slightly from the definitive panels.
These embellish the architrave of the door with the central episode of the Coronation of the Virgin.
Below this, we can see the adoring figures of Charles Borromeo, Saint Ambrose, Antonio da Saluzzo, and Aribert.
The great door still bears today signs of bombardments during the Second World War, with a hail of shrapnel also damaging the panel of the Annunciation in 1943.
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