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Casa degli Omenoni: View of the street corner facade showing the entry to the right and six herms

Date

Circa 1910

Creator

G. Massiot & cie
Part of: Architectural Lantern Slides of Italy
Architecture Library, Hesburgh Libraries

The name Omenoni may also derive from telamon. The actual sculptor was Antonio Abbondio.

Between 1565 and 1567 Leone undertook the reconstruction of the house given to him in 1549 by Charles V. Now known as the Casa degli Omenoni ('House of the Big Men' in Milanese dialect), it is one of Milan's most distinctive architectural landmarks. Its unusual façade includes a frieze relief showing two lions attacking a satyr, two half-length caryatids flanking the central portal and six herms (double life-size barbarian prisoners, which gave the house its nickname). Imposing figures of this kind had never been seen before on the façade of a house or palazzo. According to Vasari, Leone dedicated his home to Marcus Aurelius, then considered the most virtuous of the ancient emperors. Thus the prisoners, each identified by an inscription as a tribe conquered by the emperor, together with a plaster cast of the Capitoline equestrian portrait of Marcus Aurelius in the centre of the courtyard, were part of a programme in which Leone presented himself to the public not as an artist but as a gentleman in the social milieu of the Habsburg empire. He had also been knighted by Charles V.

Images

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Metadata

Creator
G. Massiot & cie
Date
Circa 1910
Publisher
Architecture Library, Hesburgh Libraries
Material Type
photographs
Conditions Governing Access
To view the physical lantern slide, please contact the Architecture Library to arrange an appointment

Metadata

Campus Location
Architecture Library, Hesburgh Libraries
Link to Finding Aid
https://curate.nd.edu/show/mg74qj75m3g
This digital collection may not include all items or all of the information available about the source collection. See the finding aid for more information.

Metadata

Contact Us

Our collection information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. If you have spotted an error, please contact Architecture Library, Hesburgh Libraries at asklib@nd.edu.


Also from Architectural Lantern Slides of Italy

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Castel Nuovo: Distant context view across the Piazza del Municipio

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Bourbon Royal Palace of Caserta: Garden detail, the Diana and Actaeon Fountain at the foot of the Grand Cascade

San Giorgio Maggiore: Interior view of nave looking towards apse

San Giorgio Maggiore: Interior view of nave looking towards apse

Lateran Basilica: Interior, Blessed Sacrament chapel in the transept

Lateran Basilica: Interior, Blessed Sacrament chapel in the transept

Baiae: Terme di Baia, "Temple of Venus," part of the baths

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Catania Cathedral: Interior, nave looking towards the pipe organ, pulpit on the right

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