A bridge to the infinite
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.
Madame de Staël (Corinne ou l'Italie, 1807)
"The light that passes through the colored stained-glass windows, the singular forms of the architecture, and the interior aspect of the church are a silent image of this mystery of the infinity that we feel inside, without ever being able to release it or understand it".
Percy Bysshe Shelley (Milan, April 1818)
"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."
UntitiledVeneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano
Hans Christian Andersen (Diary, 1833)
"… the glow that came through the colored stained-glass windows, the wonderful mystical world—it revealed itself here! Yes, this was a church of God!"
Stained-glass window of the Apocalypse (1416-1482; 1834-1838) by Stefano da Pandino, Maffiolo da Cremona, Franceschino Zavattari, Giovanni Recalcado, Cristoforo de’ Mottis, Michelino da Besozzo (?), Niccolò da Varallo, Stefano da Marliano, Battista da Legnano, Stefano Bergognone dal Furno, Giorgio d’Anversa, Giovanni Battista BertiniVeneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano
Fanny Lewald (Berlin, 1847)
"Beautiful and ancient, the decorated stained-glass windows magically created a mystical atmosphere within the half-light and project multi-colored rays of light onto the pure white marble columns. Profoundly solemn, it re-echoed the sound of the mass within those broad spaces."
Hyppolite Taine (Travels in Italy, 1864)
"By any measure, I have never seen a church within which the appearance of northern forests was so marked, and where one is unconsciously drawn to imagine long, tree-lined avenues that end in a burst of light, with curving branches that join within cupolas of irregular and intertwined foliage at an acute angle, and where the spreading shadow is scattered by light that passes through colored and diaphanous leaves. Sometimes, a yellow stained-glass window panel on which the sun is shining sends a beam of light out into the gloom, and a section of the nave lights up like a forest clearing. A large rose window at the end of the choir and a window with spirals of foliage above the entrance door shine with the colors of amethyst, ruby, emerald, and topaz, like in those intricate labyrinths where the glow that comes from above breaks up and spreads..."
Saint John the Evangelist receives orders to write the text of the Apocalypse (1481/1482) by Cristoforo de MottisVeneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano
Hyppolite Taine (Travels in Italy, 1864)
"The light enters you, transformed by the green, yellow, and purplish stained-glass windows, as though through the reddish and orangey colors of autumn leaves."
Mark Twain (1869)
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.
Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (Valencia, 1919)
Imagine a great mountain of marble that different generations have been excavating—generations that have pierced the walls with ogival windows that go from the ground to the roof, and which have, instead of drapes, stone tracery from which the chisel has drawn the most complicated arabesques: this is Milan Cathedral.
Saint Charles Borromeo sells the Principality of Oria (1855) by Giuseppe BertiniVeneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano
Franz Kafka (1911)
"The color of a garment, ever-recurring within individual images, predominates within each of the great colored windows."
Stories from the Old Testament, lower register (1835/1865) by Bertini workshopVeneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano
The Martyrdom of Saint Thecla (1860/1860) by Pietro Bagatti ValsecchiVeneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano
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