Monza: The Duomo

Although the Duomo of Monza is often called a cathedral, this is strictly speaking not correct. Monza is part of the archdiocese of Milan and therefore does not have its own bishop. On the other hand, the basilica of San Giovanni Battista, as the Duomo is officially called, does definitely have the stature of a cathedral. The façade of the building, with its large rose window and the conspicuous alternating bands of white and black marble, is gorgeous. The brick campanile is not really beautiful, but it is impressive in terms of height. Whereas the Gothic façade is a reminder of the Middle Ages, the interior of the Duomo largely dates from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The most important exception is the chapel to the left of the apse with the high altar. This Cappella di Teodolinda dates from the fourteenth century and still has the splendid frescoes painted by members of the Zavattari family in the middle of the fifteenth century. The central figure in the chapel is Queen Teodelinda (ca. 570-628), who also happens to be the foundress of the basilica.

History

I had previously met Queen Teodelinda during a visit to Piemonte, so I was somewhat familiar with the story of her life. She was a Bavarian princess who lived in the sixth and seventh century and was married to two Longobardic kings, Authari (584-590) and Agilulf (590-616). If Christian, the Longobards were generally Arian Christians. In their view Jesus Christ was subservient to God the Father. Teodelinda, on the other hand, adhered to the Catholic faith and was seen by Catholics as influential in pushing the Longobards towards Catholicism, i.e. towards the proper religion. In the late sixth century, during her marriage to Agilulf, she commissioned a palace church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. The construction of this church started around the year 595. This was the first version of the basilica of San Giovanni Battista. After her death in about 628 Teodelinda was buried inside her own creation.

After taking control of Milan in 1277, the Visconti family also tried to leave their mark on Monza. The Holy Year 1300, the first Jubilee in history, offered them an excellent opportunity to assert their power. Matteo Visconti took the initiative to rebuild the church, a project launched on 31 May 1300. During the rebuilding, in 1308, the body of Teodelinda was rediscovered and laid to rest in a stone sarcophagus, which still stands inside the Duomo. The basilica was rebuilt in two phases. Between 1300 and 1346 a new church was built in the shape of a Latin cross, which was then enlarged between 1360 and 1396 by adding several chapels, including the two on either side of the apse. During this second phase, the construction was led by Matteo da Campione (1335-1396). He was one of the maestri campionesi, a group of sculptors and architects from Campione d’Italia near the border with Switzerland. The beautiful façade of the Duomo was also largely built to a design by Matteo da Campione, although it was Stefano de’ Fedeli who designed the rose window in the late fifteenth century.

In the fifteenth century the interior of the Duomo was embellished with frescoes in the International Gothic style. Many of these were executed by members of the Zavattari family from Milan. Grandfather Cristoforo Zavattari had a son, Franceschino Zavattari, who together with his sons Gregorio and Giovanni came to Monza to work in the church. Unfortunately, only their frescoes in Teodelinda’s chapel have survived. The disappearance of the other frescoes was caused by a number of renovations of the church that were executed from the sixteenth century onwards, and which were initiated by Carlo Borromeo, archbishop of Milan between 1564 and 1584. The transept of the church was redecorated between 1558 and 1580, followed by the nave, aisles and chapels between 1648 and 1740. Although among the painters involved were several big names, such as Ercole Procaccini the Younger (ca. 1605-1680) and Montalto (1612-1690), the Baroque result is not my cup of tea.

In the meantime, Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527-1596) had provided the basilica with a new choir and a new high altar, while in 1592 the slightly obscure architect Ercole Turati began building the current campanile. At the end of the eighteenth century Tibaldi’s high altar was replaced with a new high altar designed by Andrea Appiani (1754-1817), while Matteo da Campione’s pulpit had to give way to a pulpit by Carlo Amati (1776-1852). The Duomo of Monza mostly owes its current interior and exterior to Luca Beltrami (1854-1933), who carried out important restorations between 1890 and 1908. 

Things to see

In front of the Duomo visitors will find a rather curious little monument. It consists of a pedestal with two columns and a piece of architrave, and somewhat resembles the restored remnant of a Roman temple. The bronze cross topping the monument is, however, a clue that the monument has nothing to do with the pagan Romans. It is, in fact, a memorial for the plague that devastated Monza in 1576-1577. This was the spot where, during the plague, open-air masses were held. The monument was erected in 1578 to commemorate these masses.

Matteo da Campione’s façade still looks surprisingly fresh, and for this we may credit Luca Beltrami, who made sure the damaged parts and elements were repaired professionally. The portico (protiro) has busts of Teodelinda (left) and Agilulf (right). It is topped by a statue of Saint John the Baptist, which happens to be a replica. A lovely element is the fourteenth-century tympanum, still partly painted, above the entrance. We see the baptism of Christ by Saint John, with on the far left Saint Peter the Apostle and on the far right his colleague Saint Paul. Above them is a sculpted scene in which Teodelinda takes centre-stage. She can be seen gifting several objects to Saint John, including (on the far right) the famous Hen with seven chicks. This is actually an object that exists in the real world: it has stood the test of time well and can currently be admired in the church museum (Museo e Tesoro del Duomo di Monza). Another instantly recognisable object on the right side is the Cross of Berengarius, which is also in the museum.

Those who, like your author, are not particularly fond of Baroque interiors, will find some comfort in the fact that the basilica still has a number of late medieval remnants. An example is the golden antependium (paliotto) of the high altar, made in the mid-fourteenth century by Borgino dal Pozzo, a goldsmith from Milan. The antependium features stories from the life of Saint John the Baptist, with a central position for the Baptism of Christ. Of Matteo da Campione’s pulpit just a single fragment survives, i.e. a relief featuring Teodelinda’s coronation (photo below).

The Cappella di Teodolinda is without a doubt the highlight of the Duomo. Note that you cannot just walk into this chapel: joining a guided tour (available in multiple languages) is required. Regretfully it is not allowed to take photos inside the chapel, so I can only illustrate this post with a limited number of photos from my personal collection. Between 1444 and 1446, the Zavattari family decorated the walls of the chapel with 45 scenes about the life of Teodelinda. The scenes cover more than 500 square metres, while over 800 individuals have been depicted. Thanks to several restorations we can still enjoy the frescoes, and in this respect the recent restorations by Anna Lucchini and her team between 2008 and 2014 deserve a special mention. The Zavattari were responsible for all of the frescoes, except for those of the evangelists on the vault. This is a fact they explicitly recorded in a text that was included in the thirty-second scene.

The chapel is also the place where the Corona Ferrea or Iron Crown is kept. According to tradition, it was Constantine’s mother Helena who commissioned the crown and had a nail from the True Cross incorporated into the object. After all, that same tradition claims that it was Helena who had rediscovered the True Cross during her pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 326-327. Because of the nail the crown was called the Iron Crown, but it should be noted that it is actually made of gold, while the band supposedly containing the nail turned out to be made of silver. The object is basically not even a crown, as it is much too small to be worn. The Corona Ferrea was nonetheless used in the coronation of the Kings of Italy, although these coronations did not take place in Monza, but in the old Longobard capital of Pavia (and not even on all occasions).

How and when the Iron Crown ended up in Monza is food for thought. The tradition that Pope Gregorius the Great (590-604) gifted the crown to Teodelinda is not very reliable, if only because certain parts of the object very likely do not predate the eighth century. In other words, the Corona Ferrea must be younger than Teodelinda herself and was perhaps only forged after the fall of the Longobard Kingdom (568-774). An extra clue that this is the case may be that not a single Longobard king was ever crowned with it. Nowadays the Iron Crown is kept inside the altar that Luca Beltrami made for it in 1889. The tour guide will open the little door in the altar and show the crown to the visitors.

Sources: information panels in the museum of the Duomo, folder Theodolinda’s Chapel (Fondazione Gaiani) and folder Monza ‘Experience the Beauty’.