Torre del Filarete Photo

Photographer’s Note

The main tower of the Sforza Castle is untitled to Antonio Averlino (or Averulino, c. 1400-1469), knicknamed il Filarete or "lover of virtues".

An architect from Florence, he played an important part in the diffusion of early Renaissance style. In Milan Filarete built the Sforza's public hospital, now the State University.

This tower, instead, has nothing to do with him, as can be seen from the big bas-relief showing the second king of Italy, Umberto I (1844-1900).

It was built from scratch between 1893 and 1904. There are photographs to prove that a full-scale wooden model of the tower was first placed in front of the castle, to see how the final version would look.

The Filarete tower rises above the main entry and is different from the facade because it stands out in height and has a decreasing outline. Brick is the material used for its construction . The tower today hosts the Medagliere (a collection of antique coins and medals).

from: http://ciaomilano.it/e/filare.asp

nilolabrador, papagolf21, ale, jhm, Guenther, pamastro has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

nilolabrador (1469) 2004-10-14 4:09

Poco da dire se non ammirare la profondita' e la composizione. La nota, come al solito, e' molto istruttiva.

ale (1819) 2004-10-14 4:28

Ciao Gae,
anch'io ho una foto del castello da inviare...stavo cercando di sistemarla ieri sera, ma è molto diversa da quasta...potrei copiare un po' dalla tua nota!!
Bella composizione, è per questa foto che pensavi ad aggiustare la prospettiva?

papagolf21 (57003) 2004-10-14 4:43

Très belle composition avec cette superbe fontaine en avant-plan Gae. La tour est placée sur un point fort qui attire comme un aimant notre regard ; il ne reste plus qu'à admirer ce témoignage du passé.
Vous avez également su capturer les jets d'eau latéraux : Bravo !
J'aime beaucoup Gae.

jhm (83742) 2004-10-14 8:18

A very lovely place in Milan, Gae, the old building with the beautiful tower and the fontain, give a great composition. Good job!

Guenther (6889) 2004-10-14 12:04

Composizione molto bella, Gae! Sei riuscito a combinare molto bene la fontana con l'acqua la rende molto dinamica col vecchio castello. Molto ben fatto!

Jeppe (18623) 2004-10-14 16:54

Hi Gae - a fine view you got for us here - I like sight of that fine fountain and the tower in the background - I actually tried a workshop to straiten up both tower and water - but it got bad (picture quality) the sharpness of your capture great - better keep it that way - thanks.

pamastro (7213) 2004-10-15 1:53

This reminds me of my day in Milan. The fountain was one of the cool places. And I see only a few people around which also makes me remember the completely empty day. It was a Sunday and there was a big national team game. I can't remember which but everyone but us few tourists were out and about. In this shot you launch us into it perfectly with the shot of water from the corner. Then we are lifted and sent to the castle tower. I was going to suggest correcting for the perspective but seeing it full now it seems to work well with the movement. Nice sky, too and view of the tower.