From the A of the Tree of Life painted by Arcimboldo to the Z of the Zavattari workshop, master glassmakers and painters who created the powerful cycle of stories of Queen Teodolinda in the chapel where the Iron Crown is kept. A choral story, that of the Monza Cathedral, told not by chance in a dictionary that aims to underline its value as a collective work of art, the fruit of centuries of imagination, faith and work.
It is titled “The words of the Cathedral. Dictionary”, published by the Gaiani Foundation and will be presented at a conference next Saturday on the initiative of the order of surgeons and dentists. An overview of 240 entries and 380 images collected in collaboration between the Foundation and the civic library of Monza, with photographs by Piero Pozzi, which tell the story of the current basilica of San Giovanni starting from the 6th century, with the famous dream in which the dove appeared to Queen Teodolinda, until the contemporary age.
A building that was witness to the numerous and complex events that characterized the life of the Monza village that became the capital. Moreover, as Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi underlines in the preface, “In Monza the Duomo and the city have always met”.
Saturday’s meeting in the Sala del Granaio of the Duomo includes the intervention of the scientific directors and editorial curators of the work. Professor Renato Mambretti of the Catholic University of Milan will talk about the Monza Cathedral in history, while Giustino Pasciuti, former director of the Civic Library of Monza, will develop the theme of “The Chapter Library and the scholars: Frisi, Burocco, Aguilhon, Varisco ( and the others)”. Professor Roberto Cassanelli, lecturer in the School of Specialization in Historical-Artistic Heritage of the Catholic University of Milan, will instead delve into “The arts in the Cathedral: from the Teodelindeo oraculum to the restorations of Luca Beltrami”.
“A work aimed above all at young people – underlines Monsignor Silvano Provasi in the presentation of the volume – with the hope that it will become a familiar tool, so that, by knowing better the roots and history of our city, and of its religious and civil history, and admiring the extraordinary charm of so many works, feel more moved to love it”. Between the A of the painter Filippo Abbiati and the Z of Beltramino de Zuttis, which open and close the dictionary, many entries flow relating to the history of institutions and characters, the liturgy and the history of the arts.
At the end of the conference it will be possible to visit the museum and the Chapel of Teodolinda.
