PhD Program in Historical studies
Isola Bella Borromeo and its palace
The so-called Borromean Islands are located in one of the major Italian lakes, Lake Maggiore. They are an archipelago which consists of three islands, a small island and a skerry in the lake called the gulf of Borromeo, between the towns of Stresa and Pallanza. Isola bella (Beautiful island) is a little over 300 metres long and less than 200 metres wide, and is entirely occupied by a villa and an Italian garden which are among the most characteristic of the Italian Baroque period.
Until the seventeenth century, the island was only home to a small fishing village and two churches. In 1632, the owner Carlo III Borromeo (1586-1652), renamed the island, known up to that time as isola inferiore (lower island) or isola di sotto (the island below), Isola Isabella, in honor of his wife Isabella D’Adda, and entrusted the construction of a huge palace to Giovanni Angelo Crivelli, from Milan. Delayed by the outbreak of a severe epidemic of the plague that hit the Duchy of Milan in the seventeenth centuryThe severe epidemic of the plague that hit Italy and Europe in 1630 was one of the most calamitous in history, resulting in numerous casualties. In particular, almost half the population in the Duchy of Milan and its capital city perished. Chapters thirty one and thirty two of I promessi sposi (The Betrothed) by Alessandro Manzoni made this epidemic and the changes it caused in Lombard society famous., the work continued under the impulse of the son of Carlo III Borromeo, Vitaliano VI Borromeo (1620-1690), and under the direction of the Swiss architect Carlo FontanaThe architect and sculptor Carlo Fontana (1638-1714) was a native of Italian Switzerland, but tied his fortunes especially to the city of Rome. An associate of Bernini, Fontana has left his mark in Rome in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Among his works were the Montecitorio Palace, the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles and, in the Basilica of Saint Peter’s, the baptismal font and the tombs of Queen Christina of Sweden and Popes Clement XI and Innocent XII.. The villa, in which great artists and architects worked in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, became the scene of lavish feasts and theatrical performances, known and admired throughout Europe. The gardens were completed in 1671 by Carlo IV Borromeo, while the whole island was transformed to take the form of a ship, with the palace as the bow and the terrace and gardens as the stern.
The building, which was completed only in the twentieth century by Vitaliano X Borromeo, is located at the north end of the island. The façade is 80 meters long and has a T shaped plan. The main hall at the centre is curved and protrudes out, it is built on two floors and is topped by a dome. Inside, the building houses numerous works of art and bears the marks of the great events which took place there and illustrious personalities who were hosted in it. On the first floor, for example, there is the hall of Napoleon, where the French leader stayed in 1797, and the Music Room, where the Stresa Conference of 1935 between Italy, France and Britain was held. Other rooms of the palace are home to masterpieces by Luca Giordano, il CeranoGiovan Battista Crespi, known as il Cerano (1567/68-1632) was the greatest figure of Lombard painting during the episcopate of Federico Borromeo (1595-1631). A great historical painter, who depicted the climate of the Counter Reformation in Borromeo’s Milan, he collaborated with the realization of the grandiose apparatuses set up in Rome and Milan for the beatification and canonization of Carlo Borromeo, of whom there remain important paintings in the Duomo of Milan. He was also a sculptor and architect., Francesco del CairoFrancesco del Cairo (1607-1665) was a painter active in Piedmont and Lombardy, except for a short stay in Rome. An official painter to the court of Savoy from 1633 to 1648, he was the author mainly of paintings of sacred subjects., Francesco ZuccarelliFrancesco Zuccarelli (1702-1788) was a Tuscan painter, a specialist in landscape painting and portraits. Active in Rome, Venice and London, he worked hard for the English aristocracy and the king. He was among the founding members of the Royal Academy., Salvatore Rosa and Pieter Mulier, called il TempestaPieter Mulier, the Younger, called il Tempesta (1637ca. -1701) was a Dutch painter, son and pupil of Pieter Mulier the Elder. Specializing in seascapes, he moved to Italy in 1656, staying in subsequent years in Rome, Genoa (where he was imprisoned between 1676 and 1684 for the murder of his wife), Milan (under the protection of the Borromeo family), Bergamo and Brescia. He died in Milan. (of whom the Borromeo were protectors and patrons). In the gallery of tapestries you can see six huge sixteenth-century silk and gold Flemish tapestries, in which the unicornThe unicorn is a legendary creature usually depicted as a white horse with a long single horn on its forehead and, sometimes, with a goatee, a lion’s tail and hooves. In heraldry, the unicorn symbolizes strength and victory. It appears in the coats of arms of the United Kingdom, Scotland, Canada and Lithuania and the coats of arms of large families like the Este and Borromeo., a symbol of the Borromeo family, appears constantly. In the picture gallery, reopened to the public in recent years, there is the family’s private collection, including works by Raphael, CorreggioAntonio Allegri, known as Correggio (1489-1534) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance. He was born and died in the village of Emilia from which his nickname derives, having lived there almost all his life, except for a brief stay in Parma. Little is known of his biography. Among his works there are, in Parma, the decoration of the room of the Abbess, of the church of San Giovanni Evangelista (Saint John the Evangelist) and of the dome of the cathedral. Among the paintings there are Danae, Il Ratto di Ganimede (the Rape of Ganymede), Giove e Io (Jupiter and Io)., Titian and Guido Reni. The caves, located, in the lower part of the building, covered with stones and shells and also rich in archaeological remains, must also be mentioned.