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Serbelloni Palace
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Show an other treasure of art and history in Milan:
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 Mostly represented styles: Baroque - Rococò - Neoclassic
The history of the Serbelloni Palace dates back to the middle of the eighteenth century, in 1756, when Duke Gabrio Serbelloni purchases the seventeenth century House Trotti and in the following years also other adjacent buildings and areas, in order to expand the area available for the new building that he has in mind.
In 1768 Simone Cantoni, just arrived in Milan from Genoa, gets involved in the project. He will be the architect who will give the greatest contribution in determining the architectural features of the palace.
On 26 November 1774 Gabrio Serbelloni dies without testament and his elder son Gian Galeazzo buys the palace from the brothers who will continue to live in the other pre-existing family palace.
The work resume in 1774 after some administrative traversal and continue throughout the eighties of the eighteenth century.
The palace is finally completed in 1795.
The façade of the palace is in neoclassical style and looks toward Corso Venezia, one of the main streets of the city. It is characterized by the presence of a large loggia with a triangular pediment on top. The loggia is delimited to the sides by double pillars and is marked in three equal parts by two columns totally free from the facade. Both the pillars and the columns extend to the height of two floors, starting from the ceiling level of the ground floor.
The loggia corresponds in practice to the balconies of the Napoleonic Room.
Another element that characterizes the façade is the large tympanum inside the pediment. It has both a structural (lightening the structure) and an aesthetic function.
The wall of the loggia is furthermore crossed horizontally by a frieze containing bas-reliefs by Francesco and Donato Carabelli depicting episodes of the life of Friedrich Barbarossa.
The aesthetic of the façade is enriched by the use of two different types of stone: red granite from Baveno for the part from the bottom to the noble floor, for the columns, the pillars and the pilasters; grey Viggiù stone for the balcony, the loggia, the architrave and the cornice.
The entrance hall of the palace is covered with trompe-l'oeil frescoes and lightened by semicircular niches in the corners. Its shape corresponds to the need to make regular spaces irregular due to the pre-existence of other buildings, adapted and embedded in the palace.
The four wings of the palace (which do not form a regular rectangle for the aforementioned reason and for the orientation of the streets between which the palace is located) enclose the large courtyard, very sober and dominated on the short side opposite to the entrance by the presence of a large clock.
Unfortunately, the bombings of World War II have caused serious damage to the palace. Particularly affected was the oldest part of the palace, the south-east part, with the destruction of the interiors decorated by Traballesi, the scenic staircase of honor, the theater and the library containing 75,000 volumes.
Napoleonic Floor
It corresponds to the first floor of the palace, the one in the ancient palaces traditionally with the richest and most elegant rooms.
Its completion took about a century, from the middle of the eighteenth century to the middle of the following century.
Originally it was enriched with all kinds of precious decor and furnishings: tapestries, bronzes, marbles, porcelain from Sevre and Saxony, slavic and Chinese, canvases and paintings (including some of Velasquez), Canova statues and numerous frescoes by various artists, stucco and carved golden wood decorations and more.
Each room was equipped with its own fireplace, according to French taste.
Unfortunately, the bombings led to the loss of all the furniture that could not be brought into the villa owned by the family in Tremezzo, Villa Sola Cabiati. (Among them fortunately also those of the rooms where Napoleon and his wife had slept)
Of the noble floor we want to mention in particular:
- The two boudoirs (Fig. 1-2), small rooms characterized by frescoes and decorations of the first half of the eighteenth century depicting grotesques and scenes from the myth of Love and Psyche. In one of these two, unfortunately, the frescoes are very faded.
- The Parini Room (Fig. 3), with four mythological figures (or the allegories of the four seasons?) on the ceiling.
- The Beauharnais Room (Fig 4-5), with richly decorated ceiling and large original Bohemia crystal chandelier.
- Gian Galeazzo Hall: In it the restored the coat of arms of the family is on display. Also in this case the chandelier is original and of crystal of Bohemia (Fig. 6).
- The Napoleonic Hall or Bonaparte Hall (Larger picture): Rich in decorations of all kinds, it was the last to be completed. It extends over two floors. It was originally possible to look into it from two upstairs rooms. Now the two inner balconies are however closed by mirrors, to simulate the presence of communicating environments. Also in this case the chandeliers are original and of crystal of Bohemia.
To be noted the beautiful floral decorations above the doors.
It was the representation room, where parties and dances open to the city's aristocracy took place.
- The two small oval anterooms (Fig. 8), which are embedded between the staircase (Fig. 9) and the Napoleonic Room, are delightfully embellished, exquisitely decorated with plant and floral motifs.
The palace hosted meetings with the exponents of the Milanese enlightenment culture of the time, such as Pietro Verri, Giuseppe Parini and Paolo Frisi, as well as parties and dance evenings to which the aristocracy of the city took part. Subsequently the palace, for its magnificent interior, housed Napoleon (who slept there with his wife) and his followers, prince Metternich and, as reminded by a tombstone on the palace, also Vittorio Emanuele II and Napoleon III, returning winning from the Battle of Magenta.
The palace is currently used for conferences, presentations and other events of various kinds.
If you are interested in a guided tour of this monument send an email!
Categories: Villas und palaces
Corso Venezia, 16, 20122 Milano |
Further pictures of the Serbelloni Palace in the section Photography |