Scale model of Milan Cathedral

Milan
Second half of the 19th century, Carved and partially painted wood. Tin statuettes

This large artefact can be dated to the second half of the 19th century, as it lacks the bronze doors that were added to Milan Cathedral at the end of the 19th century. Begun at the behest of the Visconti family in 1386, and not completed until the end of the 19th century, it is one of the buildings with the longest periods of construction in history. This splendid scale model was most likely commissioned to an unknown, highly skilled Lombard woodcarver by a person connected to Ambrosian culture or by an architect, for his own study. It can also be assumed that this commission depended on the neo-Gothic taste, which was very much in fashion at the end of the 19th century, not only in Milan.