Palazzo Arese Borromeo

Palazzo Arese Borromeo
Palazzo Arese Borromeo
	Façade on the garden
General information
Status	University of San Raffaele Faculty of Philosophy
Architectural style	Baroque
Address	via Borromeo 41
Town or city	Cesano Maderno
Country	Italy
Coordinates	45°37′43″N 9°08′52″E
Construction started	1626
Completed	1670 circa
Client	Bartolomeo III Arese

Palazzo Arese Borromeo is an historic noble palace situated in Cesano Maderno, in the Province of Monza and Brianze, Lombardy, Italy.

Background

The northern wing of the palazzo was build in the 16th century by Bartolomeo il Vecchio (1508–1562). Giulio I Arese (1575-1627) began expansions around 1620. The largest parts of the palazzo were built between 1654 and 1670 by count Bartolomeo III Arese, then president of the Senate of Milan under rule of Philip IV and Charles II of Spain, turning the countryside villa into an exemplary suburban noble residence for the House of Arese.[1]

The palazzo is currently property of the comune of Cesano Maderno.[2]

The interiors of the palazzo are visitable thanks to guided tours on Saturday and Sunday. The park is open every day, with free entrance.[3]

Genovese loggia in the internal court yard.

Description

Architecture

View of the facade from the exedra with hexagonal tower.

The residence is remains as it was built by Bartolomeo III, demonstrating his taste and cultural references. The project of the palazzo must be read as part of a more complex urban planning project, with the function of giving the new nobile residence maximum visibility in the region of Cesano.[4]

The palazzo is in late baroque Lombard style, and is notable for its Genovese loggia, its internal court yard, and its gardens all'Italiana. The building has a simple but elegant quadrangular structure, flanked by service buildings that complicate the plan. The principle facade, characterized by its nobile sobriety, is composed of an exedra and doric pilasters. In the northern wing there is a chapel, and In the southern wing there is a tower, built upon the remains of its medieval predecessor.

Interiors

The palazzo is lined with frescos by the most prominent Milanese baroque artists, including Ercole Procaccini the Younger, the Montalto brothers, Antonio Busca, Giovanni Ghisolfi, Giuseppe Nuvolone, and Federico Bianchi. The painted cycles are part of a complex iconographic project, involving recreated landscapes and mythology, to communicate the economic and political power of the House of Arese under Spanish Habsburg rule.

The Salone d'Onere dei Fasti Romani

The Salone dei Fasti Romani

The most important room in the palazzo is the Salone d'Onore, also known as Salone of the Fasti Romani. It consists of two bands: the inferior band depicts the history of Rome, and the superior band displays dames and signori, musicians, servants, and mendicants peering over a balustrade as though a public observation of the feasts for which the room was dedicated.[5]

Gardens and nymphaeum

The gardens are composed of a large natural park, large fountains, a nymphaeum, an ancient example of an ice house, and a more private giardino all'Italiana on the northern side.[6][7]