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Portinari Chapel
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Show an other treasure of art and history in Milan:
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 Mostly represented styles: Renaissance
The Portinari Chapel is in fact part of the Basilica of Sant Eustorgio. Because of its beauty, its width and the fact that its access is not free of charge, unlike the rest of the basilica, it was decided to dedicate to it a special page.
HISTORY
The chapel was built starting in 1462 at the behest of the Florentine Pigello Portinari, representative of the Medici Bank in Milan, who wanted to erect it at his own expense as a shrine for the relic of St. Peter of Verona.
It is not clear who designed the project. According to Vasari, it was designed by the Florentine architect Michelozzo (Michele di Bartolomeo Michelozzi), but this is unlikely. Someone has also mentioned Filarete (Antonio di Pietro Averlino, or Averulino).
The work proceeded very quickly and by 1468 most of the pictorial decoration had been completed.
Pigello Portinari was then buried in the chapel in 1468. It is thought that the tombstone was placed in the center of the choir and was removed when the Ark of Saint Peter Martyr was moved from the fifth span of the left nave of the basilica to the choir of the Portinari chapel. The ark was then moved to its current location in 1875.
The chapel, which was originally intended as an empty space, also served as a winter choir. The decorative motif of the music-making angels on the dome's drum is consistent with this function.
The chapel underwent major restoration work that lasted from 1989 to 1999 and which restored it to its original splendor.
STRUCTURE
The Portinari Chapel is part of the Portinari Chapel complex. This is located behind the left side of the presbytery and has a Latin cross structure. The long part of the axis of this cross is formed by a wide corridor including two cross vaults. It is part of what remains of the thirteenth-century convent. The two arms of the cross are formed by two fifteenth-century chapels of identical structure, each preceded by a span with a cross vault. On the left is the Chapel of St. Paul, on the right that of St. Fancis (the so-called Solarian Chapels). The short part of the axis of the cross is finally formed by the Portinari Chapel itself.
The Portinari Chapel complex is accessed through a long corridor obtained to the left of the basilica through the closure with glass windows of one of the sides of the adjacent cloister and passing through the sacristy, which also serves as a museum.
Chapel of St. Paul (Fig. 2)
Originally Crisolara Chapel, then Chapel of the Annunciation or Sacchi Chapel. Approximately square, it has a vault formed by a small circular dome. It was probably built in 1441, to house the burial of Teodorina, daughter of Giovanni Crisolara and wife of the humanist Filelfo.
The current appearance of the chapel dates back to 1620, when the Sacchi family became its owner and commissioned the fresco decoration to Daniele Crespi, known as "Cerano". Inside the small dome surrounded by a rich stucco frame he painted "St. Paul Abducted to Heaven by Angels", on the pendentives the Four Evangelists, on the left wall the "Visitation" and on the sides of the altar "David and Habakkuk".
The marble altar in polychrome marbles has an architectural structure, it is decorated with garlands, cherub heads, flame-holder vases. In the broken pediment there is a Madonna with Child perhaps dating back to the previous arrangement of the chapel. Unfortunately it was not possible to find information about it, nor about the altarpiece.
Also to be noted, in the upper part of the right wall, the window surrounded by a rich stucco frame.
On the left wall of the chapel there is a ripped fresco dated around 1450, depicting a Nursing Madonna of fine workmanship and attributed to the Master of the Borromeo Games. It was part of the original layout of the chapel.
Chapel of Saint Francis
Originally Arluno Chapel, it was built (or renovated) in 1461. It still retains much of its original features. It was also dedicated to St. Joseph for a certain period. Unlike the previous chapel, the walls do not have any particular decorations, except for a fresco on the right wall depicting Christ appearing to St. Dominic and a devotee and attributed to the school of Anovelo da Imbonate. However, it has four single-lancet windows, two on the side walls and two on the back wall, which also has an oculus, and is therefore very bright.
In the chapel there are various paintings, in particular a Saint Francis by Ortensio Crespi and a Deposition by Andrea Pellegrini.
Portinari Chapel proper
The chapel is the sum of two parallelepiped volumes with a square plan. The larger one is equipped with buttresses at the corners surmounted by aedicules and above it there is a 16-sided tiburium equipped on each side, alternatively, with an oculus or a blind oculus. The tiburium supports a conical roof with a tall lantern. Also the smaller volume has a tiburium, although it is simpler in structure. It should be noted that the main volume develops more in height, with an internal height equal to approximately double the width. On the two side walls of the central body there are two large biforas still of Gothic shape whose rich decoration is visible only from the inside. In each lunette of the smaller body there is a large oculus.
Overall the Portinari Chapel is very bright and the sensation of brightness is increased by the simple white walls.
Inside the main room is divided into three levels:
- The bare white walls, punctuated by stone pilasters with Corinthian capitals and corbels in style with the capitals.
- The intermediate level, separated from the first by a thick painted terracotta frame depicting stylised angels which continues also in the apse. It is made up of four round arches and four spherical pendentives with medallions inside.
- the drum, with splendid painted terracotta decoration depicting music-making angels in front of a loggia (Fig. 6) and the crested and sailed dome divided into 16 segments (a solution later repeated in the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie) and with a rainbow flaces decoration. At the base of the segments of the dome there are eight oculi and eight tondi with busts of saints.
At the centre of the two lateral lunettes of the main space there are two large biforas still in Gothic shape with rich terracotta decoration visible only from the inside, a jagged internal profile and a central candelabra column.
The entrance to the chapel and that to the apse are highlighted by a thick double stone and terracotta frame with grotesque decorations in relief.
Note how in the apse all the lines of contact between the various surfaces are highlighted by stone frames.
Also note the stylistic care reserved for the two service doors on the sides of the entrance to the apse, equipped with a frame with a shell-shaped lunette.
The fresco decoration in the chapel is of great value and is by Vincenzo Foppa. On the wall opposite the entrance is depicted the Annunciation, above the entrance is depicted the Assumption of the Virgin, on the left wall the Miracle of the healed foot and the Martyrdom of Saint Peter Martyr, on the right wall the Miracle of the cloud and the Miracle of the false Madonna. In the pendentives four oculi open in perspective within which the four fathers of the church are visible, seated: Saint Gregory the Great, Saint Jerome, Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine.
The choice of themes reflects the dedication of the chapel to Saint Peter Martyr and the importance that the saint attributed to the Marian cult.
It is worth mentioning on the back wall of the apse a painting depicting Saint Peter Martyr venerated by Pigello Portinari. It is attributed to Benedetto Brembo and is dated around 1460.
Ark of Saint Peter Martyr (Fig. 3)
It is positioned in the center of the central body of the chapel. Made between 1336 and 1339, it represents the masterpiece of Giovanni Balduccio da Pisa, who however made it with the help of his workshop, as demonstrated by the fact that the artistic quality is not homogeneous in the various parts that compose it.
The ark was commissioned by the Dominican friars to preserve the mortal remains of St. Peter Martyr. Part of the expenses were covered personally by Azzone Visconti.
The marble ark is composed of a sarcophagus in Carrara marble (Fig. 4) resting on eight pillars in red Verona marble. Leaning against them are eight statues depicting virtues (one in Fig. 5), while at their base are depicted pairs of symbolic animals.
The sides of the sarcophagus are divided into eight panels, each containing a high relief depicting an episode from the life of the saint:
Front side:
- Funeral of the saint
- Canonization of the saint
- Miracle of the ship
Left side:
- Martyrdom of the saint
Right side:
- Translation of the body
Back side:
- Miracle of the mute
- Miracle of the cloud
- Healing of the sick and the epileptic
The panels are interspersed with eight figures of saints (St. Eustorgius, doctors of the Church, four apostles).
Above the lid of the sarcophagus, on whose surfaces saints, prelates and princes are depicted in high relief, there is a cuspidated tabernacle with statues of the Madonna enthroned with Child, St. Dominic and Saint Peter Martyr inside.
Finally, around the lid there are statues of angels, originally with wings, and two similar ones are also found at the top of the tabernacle.
It is thought that the hand of the master can be recognized in the statues of the virtues and in various other statues. On the contrary, the stories depicted on the sides of the sarcophagus are attributed to his workshop, with an artistic quality that is still high, but varies from panel to panel.
The Portinari Chapel surprises by its beauty. In the brighter days, the white walls seem to dissolve and cause the chapel, dominated by pastel colors, to appear to be floating in the void. The coloring in concentric zones of different colors whith a superimposed slivers pattern makes the perception of the real height of the dome difficult, increasing the sense of indefiniteness of the interior space.
The Portinari Chapel represents the first and most important testimony of the penetration of Florentine ideas in Milan, with evident stylistic similarities in terms of volumes and proportions with the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo and the Pazzi Chapel in Florence. These similarities with the Florentine style were explicitly requested by the client, who was from Florence and was very attached to his hometown, both for professional and for emotional reasons.
Other elements, however, are typically Lombard, such as the dome and the aedicules.
If you are interested in a guided tour of this monument send an email!
Categories: Churches / Religious buildings
Piazza Sant Eustorgio, 20122 Milano |
Further pictures of the Portinari Chapel in the section Photography |