Fortuna del Medioevo visconteo nella Milano degli Asburgo e di Federico Borromeo, tra memoria storica e rinnovata devozionalità

This article focuses on the reuse and re-contextualisation of some medieval sculptures in Milan at the time of the Habsburgs and Federico Borromeo. For the most part, they date back to the golden age of the Visconti. In particular, I will discuss: some marbles reused in the construction of the new cathedral ‒ founded in 1386 ‒ and coming from the previous cathedrals of Santa Tecla and of Santa Maria Maggiore; the recovery and restoration of the monumental Madonna and Child that once watched over the city from the top of the Vercellina Gate, demolished during the renovation of the walls commissioned by Ferrante Gonzaga — this episode proves the precocious awareness of the importance of the Medieval historical and artistic memories in the years of Federico Borromeo; the safeguard and rearrangement of the 14th-century copy of the Holy Sepulchre in the lower church of San Sepolcro; the recovery, restoration and rearrangement of three fascinating marble reliefs today in the church of San Bassano in Pizzighettone (in the province of Cremona), where Spanish Grand Chancellor Diego Salazar brought them from Milan in 1613 to decorate his family chapel — still today, a plaque recalls this event, emphasising the commission of the reliefs by Azzone Visconti, probably the reason why they appeared particularly valuable in the eyes of the Spanish aristocrat three centuries later.