A blue and gold night sky in mosaic on the first floor, and a garden gate that is one of the finest pieces of wrought iron in Milan.
At a glance
The Villino Maria Luisa stands at Via Pietro Tamburini 8, in the streets behind Corso Magenta. Built from 1906 on a deliberately simple architectural frame, it is one of the most quoted examples of what Milanese guides call the “Liberty of Corso Magenta”.
History
The little house belongs to the wave of building that filled this quarter in the first decade of the century, when land freed by the demolition of the Spanish walls was sold off to professional and merchant families. Small detached houses of this kind — a villino rather than an apartment block — were the most expensive way to build in Milan, and the rarest.
What you see
The first thing to look at is the gate, by the master smith Alessandro Mazzucotelli (1865–1938). It is reckoned among his best pieces and among the finest wrought iron in the city: typical Liberty weaves with vases holding flowers, though with a slight simplification of the drawing in which a first influence of Art Déco can already be read. On the building itself, the stone decoration of the ground floor gives way at first-floor level to a mosaic of neo-Gothic inspiration — a night sky, deep blue with golden stars — while the mosaic panels at the sides return to more classic Liberty themes such as flowering vases.
Cultural significance
The villino is a small anthology of the eclectic contaminations that marked Milanese Liberty in the years before the First World War: neo-Gothic in the mosaic, Renaissance echoes in the frames, and the first stiffening of the line that would become Déco. It is also one of the clearest surviving demonstrations of what Mazzucotelli could do with a garden gate.
Key facts
- Built: from 1906
- Wrought-iron gate and balcony: Alessandro Mazzucotelli (1865–1938)
- Decoration: neo-Gothic starry-sky mosaic in blue and gold
- Type: detached town house (villino)
- Address: Via Pietro Tamburini 8, Milan
- Coordinates: 45.4697 N, 9.1678 E
Practical information & getting there
Metro M1 Conciliazione or Pagano, a few minutes on foot from Corso Magenta. The house is private and lived in; the gate and the mosaic are visible from the pavement. Casa Dugnani and Casa Donzelli are both within ten minutes.
Sources & resources
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