Milan

 

Idea Books Alessandro Rosso Incentive

next storyGlory and decadence

The arrival of the centenary

The city’s “stage” – splendid as in its earliest days – awaited the return of its actors and exciting times at the Biffi and the Savini. Visconti was there to shoot Rocco and His Brothers; after years of absence, the divine Maria Callas once more enthralled audiences at La Scala. Already there were those looking ahead to 1967, the centennial year. Harbingers of hope were numerous, many of them deceiving…. Crafty and invisible, an unexpected presence was about to take its place in Milan’s showcase. Nostalgia would spread under the arcades as though it were master. The Galleria’s first century of existence was celebrated in a dignified manner.

Piazza Duomo, temporary reinforcement works of the Vittorio Emanuele II gallery, January 1962

Reinforcement works of the galleria Vittorio Emanuele II because of/ due to the opening of the tube/subway – internal Corriere della Sera

The Octagon had the honour of being chosen as the starting point of the Giro d’Italia; the superb white Rolls Royce convertible of ardent Guglielmo Miani head of the Zucca as well as the Larus department store, made an appearance, underlining his efforts to restore prestige to Mengoni’s Galleria. And a great many celebrities followed in Miani’s wake Toto, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Prince Philip of England not to mention those crowded around Giulio Andreotti as he cut the inaugural ribbon of the Libreria Rizzoli the bookstore founded where the Grand’Italia once stood.
The one hundred birthday candles represented an important event in the collective life of Milan; virtually everyone was brimming with hope.

The tour of italy starts from the Gallery. 1967

Truman Capote in the Gallery Inauguration of the Rizzoli Library in the presence of Giulio Androtti. 1967 ( publifoto).

The Galleria, it was thought, would manage to come back stronger than ever, banishing the melancholy that had pervaded it ever since the end of the war. The solidity of its business tradition received confirmation thanks to the presence of big names that were a guarantee, including Prada, Gobbi, Bernasconi, Bellini and Brigatti. Milan had not renounced its excellence in the year of convict, neither had it abandoned its “drawing room” nor forgotten the art of living.

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