Our journey through the museum concludes with a series of works that depict Monza or which are closely tied to the city’s history, in tribute to the local area. On one of the walls is an absolute masterpiece: the “View of Contrada Nuova” painted by Brescian artist Angelo Inganni in 1850. In one of the most fertile moments of 19th-century production of painstakingly detailed urban views depicting everyday life, this painting offers a view from under the porticoes of Arengario looking towards Contrada Nuova (now Via Vittorio Emanuele) as far as the Ponte dei Leoni bridge. Alongside Inganni’s painting, we see another historic building from the heart of Monza, the Duomo, dedicated to St John the Baptist: the view of the apse shows an unusual perspective of the monument, from the side looking out on the River Lambro, animated by small figures. The two paintings that follow show us precious historic evidence of two monuments that no longer exist: the watercolour by Giosuè Bianchi, father of Mosè, depicts the “Dazio di Porta San Biagio”, one of the gates opened in the mediaeval city walls built by the Visconti family in the early 14th century. The walls circled the town in a ring shape, meeting at the Castle, as shown in the painting above. All that is left of the Castle are some remains near the River Lambro: already crumbling in the past, as can be seen from the gutted tower, it was demolished together with the walls during the 19th century, when industrial and urban development in of Monza saw the wall as an obstacle to expansion and business.
The interior of the Duomo is evoked – rather than precisely represented – in the painting by Mosè Bianchi which delineates a subject dear to painting from the period, after the Unification of Italy: the colours green, white and red stand out in the shade of the nave, a clear reference to the Italian flag. Umberto I, painted here by Gerardo Bianchi who was also the court photographer in Monza and who portrays his subject with a modern, photographic style, opens our gaze onto the Savoy’s presence in the city, also connected to the sketch of the decoration of the Royal Room, as shown in the preparatory cartoon we saw before.
To conclude our tour are two fine works from the 17th century. The processional banner, with its rich embroidery and coloured glass imitating precious stones, takes us back to the dark period of the plague in 1630, as told by Manzoni: Monza suffered pestilence and the inhabitants invoked divine intervention, offering to create a banner to carry round in procession. Alongside the Virgin and Child are the two patron saints of Monza: on the left, it is possible to recognise John the Baptist, patron saint since the period of the Lombards, and on the right, Gerardo dei Tintori, the Monza saint who founded a hospital for the poor and needy in the 12th century. Although it now has a modern location, Monza’s hospital is still named after the founding saint, whose life and miracles are told – complete with captions – in the devotional painting with the figure of the saint and his canonic attributes – a stick with cherry branch in reference to one of his miracles.
Your visit to the museum concludes here; you can either go back through the rooms or head directly for the exit by returning to the ground floor. We hope you have enjoyed your visit. Please leave your thoughts and suggestions, by completing our short questionnaire, available at reception. Goodbye!