After Napoleon

From Napoleon to the restoration by Luca Beltrami

With the altar of Appiani opened a new phase in the history of the Cathedral, which in 1796 was deprived of almost all its treasury, seized by the emissaries of Napoleon and only partially returned in 1816.

Although irretrievable, the losses suffered on this occasion were partially compensated by the faithful with the donation of new objects or with the legacy of ancient and rare artifacts.

In the meantime, there was a need for restoration work to remedy the disturbances that had been evident in the building.

This led to the restoration of the facade, carried out between 1890 and 1908 under the direction of Luca Beltrami, which replaced the rose window antelli with copies and reworked the entire stone coating with two-coloured bands.

In a more extensive intervention on the building, the architect also provided to transfer in the Chapel of Theodolinda the fourteenth-century sarcophagus in which the remains of the Queen were buried, also making in 1895-96 the new neo-Gothic altar of the same Chapel, destined to host the Iron Crown, which is still preserved there.

Bookings

From the Museum’s Bookshop

IL RITORNO DI TEODOLINDA
Il restauro dei dipinti murali degli Zavattari nel Duomo di Monza

A cura di Roberto Cassanelli
Ed. Fondazione Gaiani (ottobre 2015)

go to the Bookshop

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A little gem to discover

The Cathedral of Monza, together with the chapel of Teodolinda and the Museum, is a small gem to discover (and rediscover) in the heart of Lombardy. Exhibition rich in late-antique and Lombard artifacts (if you studied art history, half of the illustrations of your book will see them live here), the small museum of the Cathedral is worth a visit, given the overall negligible cost to access it.
Different speech for the Chapel of Theodolinda, which requires mandatory reservation. If you want to do it directly on the spot, we recommend that you aim for the less frequented times, so as to find free places. In any case, it is a destination that I strongly recommend and that deserves, alone, the visit of Monza. It is a 360 degrees immersion in the great art of the fifteenth century and in the history of the duchy of Milan, of which Monza was one of the protagonists.

Giorgio Alfredo Spedicato

Absolutely recommended

I visited this museum during a weekend in early January. The museum is not very large, but it shows with skill various paintings and ancient artifacts of mainly religious theme. Absolutely recommended for lovers of the late Roman and early medieval period.

Fabio Mini

Truly unique treasures

The museum is well stocked with well-preserved medieval finds. Truly unique treasures. To see the crown, wonderful iron, you must book the visit with a guide as it is located inside the cathedral in the chapel of Theodolinda that I recommend visiting.

Mariantonia Ronchetti

Chapel of Theodolinda: wonderful

Chapel of Theodolinda: wonderful. Excellent guide and its directions. The museum is very well set up and preserves treasures worthy of note. With the purchase of the ticket you will receive “your passport” with all the artistic sites of the city of Monza.

Cristy Giuliani

Fourteen centuries of history art among unique masterpieces

Quando si visita il duomo di Monza bisognerebbe visitarne anche il museo e la cappella di Teodolinda.
Quattordici secoli d’arte di storia tra capolavori unici al mondo, dall’eredità Longobarda all’arte contemporanea, mentre nella cappella Teodolinda ci sono 45 splendide scene dipinte dagli zavattari e la Corona ferrea custodita dentro la cappella. La guida alla cappella viene fatta ogni mezz’ora ed è quasi obbligatoria la prenotazione.

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