Garegnano Charterhouse, also known as Milan Charterhouse ( it, Certosa di Garegnano or ''Certosa di Milano'') is a former Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, located on the outskirts of Milan, Italy, in the Garegnano district. It now houses a community of

Capuchin Friars The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...

History

The monastery, dedicated to

Saint Ambrose Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promo ...

but also known as Our Lady of the Lamb of God, was founded in 1349 by Giovanni Visconti, bishop and lord of Milan. Soon after the foundation, monks from this monastery, with the patronage of Galeazzo Visconti, helped found the

Certosa of Pavia The Certosa di Pavia is a monastery and complex in Lombardy, Northern Italy, situated near a small town of the same name in the Province of Pavia, north of Pavia. Built in 1396–1495, it was once located on the border of a large hunting ...

. It was then located some 4 kilometers from the walls of Milan. In the 14th century it housed, among others, the poet Petrarch. It was pillaged in 1449 when the Visconti dynasty fell. It was suppressed under the rationalist reforms of the Emperor Joseph II, Milan then being under Austrian rule, and became a parish church in 1782. In 1960 the surviving buildings and parochial duties were taken over by the

. The present buildings date from the 16th and 17th centuries. The main artworks include a cycle of frescos in the main church by

Simone Peterzano Simone Peterzano (c. 1535–1599) was an Italian painter from Bergamo, but stressed his links to Venice where he probably trained. He painted in Mannerism, mannerist style and is mostly known as the master of Caravaggio. Peterzano called himself ...

(1578), il Genovesino, and

Daniele Crespi Daniele Crespi (159819 July 1630) was an Italian painter and draughtsman. He is regarded as one of the most original artists working in Milan in the 1620s. He broke away from the exaggerated manner of Lombard Mannerism in favour of an early Bar ...

(1629). There is a painting of ''San Brunone'' by Crespi.A. Bianchi, page 341. The

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

contains, in the vault, a fresco of Saint Michael by

Bernardo Zenale Bernardo (or Bernardino) Zenale (c. 1460 – 1526) was an Italian painter and architect. Biography Zenale was born in Treviglio, Lombardy, where in 1485 he finished the great polyptych for the church of St. Martin, together with his fellow Ber ...

of the early 16th century.

References

1349 establishments in Europe 1340s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Religious organizations established in the 1340s 14th-century establishments in Italy Christian monasteries established in the 14th century Carthusian monasteries in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Milan Monasteries in Lombardy Tourist attractions in Milan Renaissance architecture in Milan {{Italy-church-stub

History

Further reading

References