Museum of Ancient Art, Castello Sforzesco

About this place

In a bare stone hall that was once a ward of a Spanish military hospital stands a sculpture its maker never finished. The Rondanini Pieta is the last thing Michelangelo carved, and he was still working at it in his final days, aged eighty-eight. Mother and son dissolve into a single column of marble, while one polished arm left over from an earlier version hangs in the air like evidence of a sculptor changing his mind halfway through. There is no glass barrier and usually no crowd: just you and the stone. That alone justifies the ticket. The Pieta sits within the wider museum system of the Castello Sforzesco, whose heart is the Museum of Ancient Art on the ground floor, in the rooms facing the ducal courtyard: a chain of frescoed halls holding some four hundred Lombard sculptures spanning the fifth to the sixteenth century, the tomb of Bernabo Visconti with its unsmiling marble horseman, the portal of the Medici Bank moved here block by block, and Bambaia's recumbent Gaston de Foix. Further along the castle route comes a hall of tapestries with the embroidered city banner of Milan bearing Saint Ambrose. Beyond, the arms and armour rooms — a hit with children, less compelling for everyone else, and no shame in walking through them briskly. One thing to know before you build a visit around it: the Sala delle Asse, whose ceiling Leonardo da Vinci designed as a canopy of interlaced, knotted trees, is still inside a long restoration — the official site currently lists it as under restoration and points visitors to virtual tours instead, though it has opened from time to time in short, pre-booked windows. If Leonardo's ceiling is your reason for coming, check the official site before booking and do not assume it is on view. Practically: the castle courtyards are entirely free and open from 07:00 until 19:30, a wide shaded space that suits travellers with children, and they lead out at the back into the large Parco Sempione — the panoramic rampart walk, though, is a separate ticket that the museum ticket does not cover. The combined ticket is reasonable by Milan standards, and the museums close on Mondays while the courtyards stay open. Cairoli and Cadorna on the red line and Lanza on the green are the nearest metro stops, and Via Dante, which runs straight to the castle gate, is lined with cafes and food — no need to carry anything in.