LOCATION: Milan Duomo window n. XVI

DIMENSIONS: 3 lancets window enclosed by three-foiled windows and a rose: height 1565 x 181 cms. Rect. Panels 118 x 60,2 cms (lancets a and c); 118 x 60,5 cms (lancet b); three-foiled 85 x 68 cms

PROVENANCE: Milan Duomo. Original location (n.XVII wind.)

CHRONOLOGY: 1565-1567

AUTHOR(S): Giovanni Da Monte (planning); Conrad Mochis from Cologne (execution); Pietro Angelo Sesini, John Baptist from Cologne (collaborations)

ASSIGNMENT: S. Carlo Borromeo (1565) entrusted the works for the stained-glass w. to have the Marian Cycle completed

SUBJECT(S): 1a, 1b, 1c), 2a, 2b, 2c),3a,3b and 3c) Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles; 4a,4b,4c,5a,5b,5c and 6b) The Death of the Virgin ; 7a, 7c, 8a, 8b, 8c, 9a, 9b, 9c, 10a, 10b. 10c, 11a, 11b, and 11c) Assumption of the Virgin to Heaven; 12a, 12b, 12c) little winged angels (three-foil windows.); 6a, 6c, and 7a) Trophies of fruit, red anemones and little winged angel (mixtilinear panels); Rose w. (P. Bertini)

NOTE: As for the XV cent. stained-glass windows of Milan Duomo the ufficial numeration by C.V.M.A. is kept even if, for some of them, the hagiograohic stories can start to be read from the top rather than from the bottom or viceverca. That for the different location assigned to each panel in the window.

CRITICAL NOTES:The Glories of the Virgin window (1566) is a work of Conrad Mochis from Cologne (see Duomo n.) in collaboration with Pietro Angelo Sesini (as from the inscription 1566 P.A.S.F., Petrus Angelus Sesinius fecit, at the feet of the dead Virgin) on drawings made by Giovanni Da Monte ( on a panel there is the signature G.M.F., Giovanni da Monte fecit).The window breaks with the traditional glass module in Duomo, expanding on vast areas the three episodes in which is divided (theatrical grandiosity of the scenes).For iconography and style it’s close to the "monumental mannerism" of G. Meda and P. Pellegrini, working at Duomo (1560-1581); chromatic sobriety; incisive and calligraphic drawing ( Dürer). Giovanni da Monte was from Crema. After spending his youth in Venice with Tiziano, he moves to Milan (1560-1571) where joins the group of artists working for Carlo Borromeo . He makes drawings (69) for two windows: The Glories of the Virgin (1566) (see Duomo n.) and The Life of the Virgin from her birth to the Annunciation (1565-1567) (see Duomo n.) , documented by many payments (1566-1568). He works in Crema (The stigmates of St. Francis with St. Jerome), 1557-1560), Milan (S. Maria presso s. Celso, monochrome predella , 1560; Marino Palace, frescoes (lost); Crucifixion with scenes from the Passion, Card. Monti’s collection, 1570; St. Nazarus, Organ shutters, 1566-1570), Lodi (S, Lorenzo, frescoes and paintings on canvas, 1567-1568), Monza (S. Maria della Guastalla, frescoes The flagellation and Incoronation of thorns, 1568) and Bellinzona (Chiesa Collegiata, The Crucifixion, 1568). Than he moves to Wien at the court of Maximilian II of Hapsburg in 1571. He will come back to Italy in 1583. Typical of Giovanni Da Monte’s painting is the fusion of the Venetian colour and material (Tiziano, the Pordinone, Tintoretto) with a monumental and heavy setting of the figures, original of the Lombard and Milanese tradition (G. Meda, P. Pellegrini)

CONDITIONS: in good conditions, in spite of the several repaintings and replacements by the Bertinis . An "integrating"restoration by P. Bertini (1881-1890) with the project of locating in this big window all the panels from the fragmentary window with Stories of the Apocalypse (see Duomo n.). Project not fulfilled. The restoration was also necessary to repair the damage due to a violent hailstorm (13 June 1874). 1968-72 Ven. Fabbrica del Duomo, Directed by Arch. E. Brivio: the dusting, the cleaning of the glasses with detergent stuff based on polyphosphates, the washing with distilled water, partial re-leading, replacement of the frames in iron with others in bronze-marina. Remaking of the protective nets with frames in bronze-marina and mesh in copper wire. No counter- stained glass window.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: see Bibl. Milano, Duomo – XVI century stained-glass windows

PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS: photographic files Laura Monciardini

EDITOR: Laura Monciardini, (march 1998)