The chapel was painted in two occasions between 1441-44 and 1444-46 and, in all probability, by four different “hands”, which some scholars propose to identify with as many members of the Zavattari family.
On the basis of a careful stylistic analysis, they believe that the general concept and design of the cycle should be referred to Franceschino Zavattari, who also executed the first 12 scenes; the so-called “second master of Monza”, perhaps identifiable with Giovanni, would have instead led those from 13 to 34; Gregorio would then be entitled to the scenes from 35 to 41, while the “fourth master of Monza”, perhaps Ambrose, would be the author of the four endings.
Scene 32, on which the signature and date 1444 appear, is considered by some as one of the poetic peaks of the cycle, as well as the pivotal point between the first and the second pictorial campaign, as would also attest recent archive finds.
The 45 scenes tell the story of Queen Theodolinda from the historical accounts of Paul the Deacon (8th century), author of the Historia Langobardorum, and Bonincontro Morigia (14th century), author of the Chronicon Modoetiense.
Developed on an area of about 500 square meters and organized in five overlapping registers, the narrative follows a horizontal course from left to right, and from top to bottom, and is divided as follows:
- the scenes 1 to 23 describe the preliminaries and the marriage between Theodolinda, princess of Bavaria, and Autari, king of the Longobards, ending with the death of the king;
- scene 24 to 30 depicts the preliminaries and the wedding between the Queen and her second husband Agilulf;
- from 31 to 41 are depicted the foundation and the initial events of the Basilica of Monza, followed by the death of King Agilulf and the Queen;
- from scene 41 to 45 is finally illustrated the unfortunate attempt to reconquer Italy by the Emperor of the East Constantius and his sad return to Byzantium.
As the scenes unfold, the pace of the story slows or tightens depending on the importance of the moments narrated.
As many as 28 stages of the story are also dedicated to wedding scenes, related to the two marriages of the Queen: a circumstance that leads us to believe that the paintings were also designed as a tribute to Bianca Maria Visconti, based on the analogy that links the Lombard queen to the Lombard duchess, who married in 1441 to Francesco Sforza, thus legitimizing his aspiration to succeed Filippo Maria Visconti in the ducal dignity of Milan.
Many are the scenes of court life – dances, parties, banquets, hunting parties – but also travels and battles, and numerous details about fashion and costumes of the time presented by the protagonists: clothes, hairstyles, weapons and armour, Furnishings, attitudes and attitudes.
All this provides one of the richest and most extraordinary insights into the condition and life of the court in 15th century Milan, perhaps the most European environment in Italy at that time. The complex process used by the authors – in which different materials and techniques such as fresco, dry tempering, relief pad coexist, the gilding and silvering in leaf – shows the extraordinary operational versatility of the workshop and responds perfectly to the lavish climate that prevailed in the courts and at the aristocracy of the time.
In the altar of the Chapel, built in 1895-96 in neo-Gothic style on a project by Luca Beltrami, is kept the Iron Crown, the most famous and sacred among the goldsmiths of the Treasury of the Cathedral of Monza.
