Milan part 2

Finally going on a bit in my Milan adventure to more modern times!  Here are two statues of remarkable 19th century Italian men: they both played huge roles in establishing an Italian national identity (as I mentioned before, Italy did not exist as a country or an idea until around their time) and Italians love them. 

The first here is Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, is probably one of the most admired figures in Italian history.  His charisma and ability to rally the Italian people around a common cause made unification possible in the minds of Italians.  The Milanese like to dress up his statue for fun.

And here is Victor Emmanuel, the only ever "king of Italy" to rule the whole of the modern country.  Although he successfully united the peninsula, he never really had the power of a king.  His reign saw Mussolini rise to power and he couldn't really do anything to stop it.  I'm not that clear on why he's so fondly remembered by the Italian people, but they really like him.

Now back to ancient history.  This is La Scala, Milan's famed opera house!  It was much smaller than I expected (as someone who has studied opera La Scala looms large as second only to the Paris Opera on the list of places to go when you've hit the big time) but it and the little square around it are really lovely.  The statue in the middle is da Vinci.

Here is the church of Maria della Grazie, whose main claim to fame is that da Vinci's Last Supper is inside.  It's still a functioning convent and it's small but really pretty and light inside.  I loved this church.

 

This is the refectory of the church, where the Last Supper is painted on one of the walls.  A refectory is like a cafeteria for monks - get it, the Last Supper in a cafeteria?  Unfortunately I didn't know until I got to Milan that you have to book a spot like, months in advance to see the painting, so I couldn't go in.  I guess the place is pretty small and they have to control visitors.

The Sforza coat of arms on the side of the church:

Finally we come to the main church I had wanted to visit in Milan, the ancient basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, or St Ambrose who I mentioned before.  St Ambrose is one of the "Church Fathers" who were extremely intelligent, learned, influential men in the early days of the Catholic Church.  They are the ones who established most of the still current Christian theology, and Ambrose is probably the most significant of them.  To me they're most important as philosophers of their time - they actually worked with the ideas of Plato and Aristotle and put them into their religious worldview.  They weren't opposed to science and religion together as so many medieval (and to tell the truth, modern) church men and theologians were.

Anyway, some parts of this church date back to the 4th century but most of it is from the 12th.

One of my big missions in Italy was to see some of the phenomenal Byzantine mosaics in the old churches, having been really impressed by them on my visit to Istanbul in 2006.   Here is the main one in this church, an extraordinary example of art of the time.  I can't begin to describe how these mosaics are in person: they're delicate and intricate, with amazing detail and symbolism, and lines of gold are woven throughout.  They're much closer to the icons of Eastern and Greek Orthodox traditions - but remember, when these were created there had no yet been a schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox branches.  There was only one Christian church.  Once I get the pictures of Ravenna I'll put up the most amazing ones I've ever seen.

This mosaic is a Christ Pantokrator, which is usually translated as Christ the Sustainer of the World.  Just basically an idea of all-powerful-ness.

Finally, a trip through the treasury of this basilica was really interesting.  It still has tons of priceless art and artifacts belonging to the Church. 

And below the church, in the vaults, still lies the body of St Ambrose, who died in 397.  More than 1600 years later he looks rather mummified, but you can still make out a lot of the features.  He's dressed like a bishop of the time, with grand, intricately decorated robes, and is shown in a glass case. 

I do have a picture of him on my old computer, but since it is rather gross I don't think I'll post it. 

So now I've put up all the important pictures I have access to for Milan, and you'll have to wait until next month for stuff from the rest of the trip and from Bordeaux.  Again I apologize for the not-great-quality pictures, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway!