Palazzo Archinto: a Palace for culture
The earliest archival evidences on Palazzo Archinto date back to the 15th century. They identify as owners the Del Conte (or De Comite), a family belonging to the Milanese nobility since 1099, and linked by inheritance to the even more prestigious Visconti family.
Throughout the 17th century, various members from the Visconti family acquired nearby buildings; for example, in 1687 Anna Visconti purchased a house located in the adjacent so-called Piatti city quarter.
Anna Visconti's Daughter - Camilla - , married Filippo Archinto, who in turn in 1695 acquired a further neighbouring house.
That is how in 1715 the properties went into the hands of Carlo Archinto, 3rd Count of Tainate (1669-1732), who above everyone else has been able to put a new sheen on the Palace. He was a man passionate about Arts and Architecture. It was thanks to him that the Palace underwent a remarkable makeover and was adorned with many numerous works of arts and enriched by an outstanding in-house library.
Palazzo Archinto also became the rendezvous for the meetings of the so-called Société Palatine, an association composed of literate noblemen who had been established by the Count himself and that as first worked as publishing house of main cultured works
Between 1730 and 1731 - honouring the marriage that united the Count’s first-born – Filippo – with Giulia Borromeo Arese Palazzo Archinto - the Palace was equipped with an extraordinary fresco cycle executed by Giambattista Tiepolo (1696-1770), the renowned Venetian painter who was summoned by Count Carlo Archinto.
Supported by collaborators such as Stefano Orlandi and Vittorio Maria Bigari, Tiepolo painted magnificent mythological frescoes over the ceilings of the Palace.
In 1804, upon the death of their son Carlo (1734-1804), the Palace was bequeated to the family heir and successor, Giuseppe Archinto (1783-1861).
In 1825, “the noble house together with the garden and annexed buildings, all of them making one single body” was sold by Giuseppe Archinto to Giuseppe Tirelli, who in turn sold it to other owners.
It was in 1853 that Palazzo Archinto completely renovated its function, being transformed into the home to Luoghi pii elemosinieri, an organisation aimed at distributing subsidies, such as bread, wine and money.
In August 1943, Palazzo Archinto was severely damaged due to the Allied bombing on Milan. The fresco cycle was irremediably jeopardised. As of today, its memory is preserved by old photographs which reproduce them before the tragic consequences of the war.
After the post-war reconstruction (1955-1967) Palazzo Archinto resumed its fostering function, while also housing the Historical Archive of Luoghi Pii Elemosinieri, as well as the paintings gallery featuring the benefactors’ portraits.
The only surviving fragment of Tiepolo’s extensive frescoes at Palazzo Archinto is from The Triumph of Arts and Sciences, which was originally painted in the Archive Hall. The fresco has been removed and is currently housed in the Museo d’Arte Antica del Castello Sforzesco in Milan.
The Palace is today the home of the St. Louis High School Campus: Inspired Found - which owns the school - had renovated it from top to bottom making it a safe, silent, technological and beautiful place of culture for all-over-the-world students; again giving to its walls a destiny of culture.
