Milan, 15th century frescoes of Santa Chiara on display, never before shown to the public

The Museo Diocesano Carlo Maria Martini presents the 15th-century frescoes from the monastery of Santa Chiara in Milan, from the Intesa Sanpaolo collection, collected by UBI Banca. The initiative, a valuable food for thought on the themes of Holy Easter, presents the eleven surviving frescoes of the cycle dedicated to the Stories of the Passion, hitherto never exhibited to the public, with a proposal for the reconstruction of the entire cycle as well as a hypothesis on the original location within the cloistered church. This is an initial working hypothesis, on which studies are still ongoing, in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the metropolitan city of Milan.

In Lombardy in the second half of the 15th century, the churches of the Minor Observants, initially bare in adherence to the principle of poverty, were enriched with cycles dedicated to scenes from the Passion, generally placed in the upper part of the partition, that is, the vertical structure that divided the internal space of the place of worship between the side dedicated to the faithful and the one intended for the religious. Studies have shown that, unlike the other Franciscan Observant churches, the frescoes, torn in 1881, were not originally located on the outer side of the partition toward the people, but rather on the inner side, therefore visible only to the nuns. As documented for other coeval cycles, many masters with their respective workshops worked at the same time.

Also on display are two other frescoes depicting St. Clare with the Virgins and the Madonna and Child with Angels, also from the same monastic complex.

From the same place come the three stone reliefs depicting St. Francis, Christ in Pieta and St. Clare, which are part of the permanent collection of the Diocesan Museum and can be seen in the underground room (depository of the Intesa Sanpaolo collection, UBI Banca collection), and which were the keystones of the church.

The exhibition The Passion Frescoes from the Monastery of Santa Chiara in Milan is open until July 4.

For all information you can visit the official website of the Chiostri di Sant’Eustorgio.

Milan, 15th century frescoes of Santa Chiara on display, never before shown to the public

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