Architectural Posters of Genoa and Milan

Milan and Genoa: Cathedral, Theatre and Palace Street

These four motifs connect two northern Italian cities through very different building types. In Milan, a cathedral shaped over centuries stands beside a deliberately restrained Neoclassical opera house. In Genoa, the façades of Strada Nuova form a unified urban project that displayed the wealth of a maritime and financial republic.

AP 542 and AP 361 · Milan Cathedral

Construction of Milan Cathedral began in 1386 on the site of earlier churches. Gian Galeazzo Visconti’s decision to use pale Candoglia marble instead of the brick customary in Lombardy accompanied a decisive commitment to Gothic form. Master builders, stonecutters and sculptors were consequently brought to Milan from across Europe. The cathedral remained a building site for generations: the gilded Madonnina was placed on the great crossing spire in 1774, and work undertaken at Napoleon’s initiative brought the façade close to completion between 1807 and 1813. AP 542 and the smaller AP 361 present the dense layering of portals, tracery, sculpture and pinnacles in a carefully coloured frontal elevation.

AP 375 and AP 007 · Teatro alla Scala

After Milan’s Royal Ducal Theatre burned down in 1776, Empress Maria Theresa commissioned a new opera house. Giuseppe Piermarini designed the Neoclassical building on the site of the demolished church of Santa Maria alla Scala, from which the theatre takes its name. It opened on 3 August 1778 with Antonio Salieri’s opera L’Europa riconosciuta. The calm exterior conceals an auditorium designed for spectacle and acoustics: a rusticated base, projecting centre and clear pilaster order give the public building dignity without overwhelming its urban setting. AP 375 and AP 007 focus on this balanced principal façade.

AP 309 and AP 310 · Genoa’s Strada Nuova and the Palazzi dei Rolli

Present-day Via Garibaldi was laid out as Strada Nuova between 1551 and 1583 above the densely built medieval city. A public authority divided the land within a unified plan into plots for the palaces of Genoa’s wealthiest families. In 1576 the Senate introduced the Rolli degli alloggiamenti pubblici: distinguished private residences were entered on official lists and required to accommodate guests of state when needed. These three- or four-storey palaces respond inventively to the hillside with open staircases, courtyards, loggias and gardens. AP 309 documents the downhill street front (Lato a Valle), while AP 310 records the uphill side (Lato a Monte). Seen together, the panoramas reveal the complete rhythm of individual yet coordinated Renaissance and Baroque residences.