Andreas Manessinger

7326 - Milano XXVIII

Wed, 11 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

And suddenly, when I begin looking at details of the facade, it’s perfect light again.

7325 - Milano XXVII

Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The southern side. Can you have that better? Probably. You’d need a time with no people on the streets, interesting light and good weather.

The southern side of the piazza would be fine on a sunny summer morning. That’s easy. It would also cover the western side, but I’d don’t care about it.

The northern side needs a sunny winter morning. We’d have good sidelight and certainly no tourists on the streets. The problem would be that cities tend to have Christmas markets in such places. Just google +milano Mercatino di Natale in Duomo and see for yourself 😁

The Duomo? Pretty hopeless, I guess. In the morning it has backlight. The facade is lit from noon to sunset, and I can’t imagine the piazza being empty anytime in that interval. Probably in the evening, after a summer rain, when the sun comes out one more time. That’s what you’d have to wait for, but you can’t plan for that.

For me, visiting for one day in early September, being there in the early afternoon, there are no choices.

7324 - Milano XXVI

Mon, 09 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The grand view of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

7323 - Milano XXV

Sun, 08 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

One of the Duomo’s portals. Quite impressive.

7322 - Milano XXIV

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

You have to work with what you get 😁

7321 - Milano XXIII

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Trying to figure out how to tackle the church? Well, the only solution was, to embrace the inevitable and just work with the people. That’s what it is. It’s far worse in Vienna in front of Saint Stephen’s, because there you also lack space.

7320 - Milano XXII

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Under the arcades along the facade of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

7319 - Milano XXI

Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We have arrived at the Piazza del Duomo. It’s crowded with people. While I was figuring out how to tackle the church, I first took on an easier target, the famous shopping center Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II on the northern side of the piazza.

This text was written more than a week ago. Hungary, Brazil, Serbia and Israel have turned out well. Now, at November 4, we will already know what the US midterm elections have brought. Anything but both chambers won’t suffice. And even then: Trump has two more years to ignore constitution, Congress and basic rules of decency.

7318 - Milano XX

Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Ristorante Al Mercante on Piazza Pio XI. We just passed by and, again, without Google Maps, I wouldn’t have found it. See the round, low metal fence around some metal sculpture in the lower left corner? I figured it would be visible on the satellite view. It is 😁

7317 - Milano XIX

Mon, 02 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This church is Santa Maria alla Porta, a small church on our way to the Piazza del Duomo. It was closed.

7316 - Milano XVIII

Sun, 01 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s the undistorted view, again after waiting for the street to clear.

If you’re interested in the damage World War II inflicted on the church, you can enter "Santa Maria delle Grazie" 1943 in Google and switch to image results.

7315 - Milano XVII

Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On my way to the east-facing view, I found a reflection I could not resist.

7314 - Milano XVI

Fri, 30 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I had tagged this image as part of the church, but that’s not correct. It looks more like the entrance to a private patio. Looking at the 3D model of Milano on Google Maps for private patios very close to Santa Maria delle Grazie, I could easily identify Casa degli Atellani, just across the street. It’s the only palace remaining here, and it belonged to Duke Ludovico Sforza. About the same time as the church and close in style, so my mistake is not entirely embarrassing 😁

7313 - Milano XV

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The church from the west side. I had to wait for a while to see the busy street empty.

7312 - Milano XIV

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s a detail of the ceiling. Every stroke of the brush pure renaissance? Nah. The church was heavily hit by bombs in World War II, and the ceiling was damaged. The restoration work can only have been from photographs.

Still, I suppose it’s pretty accurate in places where photos existed. Together with the overall style and whatever color existed in burned fragments, it might have been possible to recreate the impression the church gave before the bombings.

Of course, this might still be far off the original. Just think of all the baroque alters that have replaced their gothic predecessors, even without wars.

7311 - Milano XIII

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Oh my, this is what happens when you disagree with your own memory of a place. Today’s image was processed at a different time, and different were my ideas of what the light in this church had looked like. In the end, it does not matter. There is no way to tell, five years after.

7310 - Milano XII

Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Let’s go crazy with the ultra-wide. Glorious ceiling.

7309 - Milano XI

Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Again, these were Corona times. The sparse seating certainly improves the experience. The ubiquitous signs less so. Anyway, that’s what it was. I might return to Milan, because a single day for this city can’t do it justice.

7308 - Milano X

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Bramante may or may not have worked on parts of that church. Some doubt it, but it does not matter at all. The church is beautiful.

7307 - Milano IX

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Back inside the church. It’s closing just like the cloister, but I am by far not the only photographer resisting. As quickly as we take our last images, as slow we are as a group.

7306 - Milano VIII

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Renaissance ist a drug, don’t you think so?

7305 - Milano VII

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I would have spent more time here, but this was the last image. The church was already closing. We had just slipped into the cloister, were discovered quickly and had to leave 😊

7304 - Milano VI

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Again, the ultra-wide makes it bigger than it is. Beautiful, huh? Of course, Donald Trump would make it four times bigger and with a swimming pool at the center 😁

7303 - Milano V

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I’m a big fan of cloisters, but not normally renaissance cloisters. This one is a big exception. It is small, thus the necessity to go ultra-wide.

7302 - Milano IV

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Technically, the fresco on the opposite side of the refectory, the Crucifixion by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano, is the far better painting. This is a panorama as well.

7301 - Milano III

Sat, 17 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

And now a panorama from a few exposures stitched together for maximum detail.

You immediately notice there is not much detail at all. Leonardo was a great artist but a bad craftsman. Practically all his paintings are in bad shape. He lacked technique and used inferior materials.

Was it still worth it visiting? Well, I knew it before, and the painting is by far the only reason to visit the Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie.

7300 - Milano II

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

You can’t just walk in to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. You need to have booked a timeslot, or else you have to wait in a long line. This is a single exposure of the fresco with a bit of the surrounding area.

7299 - Milano I

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Milano! That’s what we left Piacenza for. We came through Via Giorgio Washington, and at the end there would have been these modern skyscrapers on Piazza Tre Torri. Instead, on Piazza Piemonte, we turned right and took Corso Vercelli and Corso Magenta for a visit booked half a year in advance.