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New Museum opening at Monza Gaiani
Corona Ferrea, half of the ninth century, gold, gems and enamel, diameter 15 cm and height 3.5 cm. Monza, Cathedral
A new, exciting underground museum to present, for the first time in an organic way, in addition to the Treasury, all masterpieces of the Cathedral of Monza. With the implementation of the new Museum Gaiani, supplementing and enriching the existing exhibition spaces, on 8 November 2007 is presented the Museum and Treasury of the Cathedral of Monza. It 'an opportunity to admire the uniqueness of works of art exhibited el'interezza of the museum, understanding the complexity of the work of 10 years during which the new museum was designed in the ancient cathedral built by Teodolinda Queen of the Lombards.
To introduce the new national museum to be free guided tours on days 11 and November 12 with reservations required (no later than November 7) and up to exhaustion seats available (Reservations: tel. 039.326383, fax: 039.2300349, e-mail : info@museoduomomonza.it).

A "sign" the new architecture is Cini Boeri, with the contribution to the corporate image, Pierluigi Cerri and two "sorcerers" dell'illuminotecnica as Francesco Iannone and Serena. The new museum, directly accessible from the outside, is built on two levels modeled in them the desire of interpreting clients can count on a structure the more flexible and versatile as possible that, in addition to permanent collections, could also accommodate temporary exhibitions, musical events, conferences and meetings.
To take full load of complex works were Franco and Titti Gaiani, Monzesi patrons who wanted to secure a new home to the treasures accumulated over the hundred-year history of the Cathedral of Monza. The route of the new museum - to be among the most important in the world of his field-starts from the Cathedral itself and exactly where the chapel is kept the Iron Crown, which were crowned kings and emperors, from Frederick Barbarossa to Napoleon Bonaparte.
History and legend are intertwined with the origins of the Tesoro del Duomo di Monza which, with its pieces of refined beauty and incomparable historical and artistic value, is for centuries the pride of the city along with the basilica which was donated and has guarded -- after subtraction and refunds - up to now. Basilica that, because of the presence of the Treasury, was the scene of religious and political events narrated in the reliefs, frescoes and decorative of the entire building in powertrain.
The extraordinary complex of objects of gold and silver donated by Queen Teodolinda to the foundation of the church and Lombard by Pope Gregory the Great at the baptism of his son Adaloaldo (603), it was enriched over time with additional donations from the kings and important men church, which Berengar I, King of Italy nell'888 and Ariberto by Intimiano, archbishop of Milan from 1018. The object was transferred from the sacristy where he lay for years to Philip Serpero Museum, an exhibition space desired by the Parish in 1963.
The new exhibition area is total 1400 square meters and turns the "Serpero" - which is expected in the future the full restoration - as vast and complex path of access, resulting in one big compartment.
The selection and ordering of works includes two nuclei exhibit well harmonized with each other, although structurally distinct, reflecting the distribution of wealth in many sections, taking water as Sparti 1300, when the Visconti family decided to re-l ' Teodolinda building built by the sixth century, during the first Jubilee of Pope Boniface VIII. Therefore, in the first part of the trail are on display works from the first basilica, while the second is reflected in the history of the Cathedral and the Treasury from the fourteenth century to today.
Two events that continue to weave even today, even through the historic and symbolic importance in the centuries to be the queen Teodolinda is the Iron Crown, one of the religious and political symbols from the West until the twentieth century.

The route was divided into four major sections. Maintained the chronological axis as essential, capital was aggregated according to "strong themes, which help to contextualize the objects, a link between them and put them in connection with the Cathedral and the urban fabric.
Then, after the section on the medieval treasure, the first section is concerned with the age of the Visconti. To welcome the visitor is a portrait of Giovanni Visconti, the archbishop and the lord of Milan that made possible the return of the Treasury to the Cathedral after the transfer thereof to Avignon as a result of the transfer of the papal seat. We then move on to the work of Matteo da Campione, the architect who lies - between 1350 and 1396 - the reworking of the facade, the construction of the baptistery now disappeared and that of the pulpit for the imperial coronation, which still stands in the nave. The museum presents a selection of plates and figures in the famous tunnel "heads" from 'Gugliotta' facade. The great fresco of the Mass of St. Michael introduces the theme of "luck" of Trecento Teodolinda in Monza and the myth of imperial coronations. Beside the painting are placed the fragment of a Crucifixion attributed Michelino by Besozzo and two late masterpieces lombarda: the cup of Gian Galeazzo Visconti and silver devotional statue of San Giovanni Evangelista, which repeats in a smaller scale the great Saint John Copper is also coming from the front.
The second section - the domain of the Sforza in mid-sixteenth century - sceltissima presents a selection of paintings on wood - such as the towers polyptych Madonna Enthroned - "The ancon of the Virgin", one of the most unique incunabula Lombard painting on canvas, and the reconstituted clay polyptych S. Peter Martyr. Special attention was given to the large glass window-dressing, made at the end of the fifteenth century and replaced in the nineteenth, now reassembled in the museum at the center of a wall 12 meters high.
One of the most extraordinary of this period, even in quantitative terms, are probably the richest set of tapestries: the two great masterpieces by cartons Arcimboldi with stories of St. John and the Flemish Millefleurs recently restored dall'Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence.
The third section is devoted to the Borromei, Durini for the Habsburgs and then, and the flourishing of the great and late baroque decoration. Next to the sketches of Legnanino and Borroni is so ordered a selected paintings and examples, and bulletin boards are arranged in the most significant liturgical objects.
The fourth and final section is open from sketches made from plaster Angelo Pizzi designed by Andrea Appiani neoclassical ciborium for the high altar, built between the end of the Habsburg rule and the early French when the Treasury takes the route of Paris ( the codes are all bound in red Moroccan with the insignia of Napoleon) and the Iron Crown returns a symbol of the ancient imperial coronations, first by Napoleon and then by Ferdinand I of Habsburg.
To underline the link with the present, ample space is given to contemporary art is that the recent donations from the reorganization of the collection of medieval ivories Durini-Trotti or exposure of the Crucifixion wooden granted by Fossati. Among the works of contemporary artists on display in the new museum, the Crucifixion of Lucio Fontana, the Risen Christ by Luciano Minguzzi and cartoons by Sandro Chia for windows dedicated to St. Ambrose and St. Charles Borromeo, windows will be placed in the Cathedral on the occasion of 'Opening of the new museum.

For information: Phone 039 326 383
museum hours
Tuesday-Sunday 9-13 14-18
Monday Closed
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