Art of the late 16th century in Milan
In the late sixteenth century Milan's art developed along three intertwined currents: Mannerism, Counter-Reformation art, and a restrained classicism. As the Spanish Empire's military outpost in Lombardy and a diocese on the front line with Protestant Switzerland, the city produced art above all for the Church. Archbishop Charles Borromeo, a leading figure of the Council of Trent, issued his Instructiones laying down how churches should be built and decorated so that images would instruct the faithful, and his brother Federico continued the program. Painters such as Pellegrino Tibaldi, Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo, and Vincenzo Campi worked within this climate - Tibaldi's monumental decor and Lomazzo's crowded frescoes carrying Mannerist energy into Borromeo's doctrinal framework.
Defining characteristics
- Grand religious decoration planned to instruct an illiterate public
- Mannerist figures: crowded compositions, elongated bodies, agitated movement
- Architecture regulated by Counter-Reformation rules: Latin-cross plans and monumental façades
- Rich fresco cycles filling chapels, vaults, and cloisters
- Local classicism tempering central-Italian Mannerist models
Key figures
- Charles Borromeo (1538-1584) — Archbishop whose Instructiones set the rules for Milanese church art and building
- Federico Borromeo (1564-1631) — Archbishop who extended his uncle's program of religious art
- Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527-1596) — Painter-architect of Milan's most ambitious Mannerist decoration
- Vincenzo Campi (1536-1591) — Painter of the large vault frescoes in San Paolo Converso
Example works
- San Paolo Converso (church) — Domenico Giunti (1549)
- Frescoes of the Foppa Chapel, San Marco — Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo (late 16th century)
Sources
- Art of the late 16th century in Milan - Wikipedia encyclopedia