Description
The Casa degli Omenoni is the palace the sculptor Leone Leoni had built for himself in Milan around 1565, on Via degli Omenoni, behind the Church of San Fedele. The name comes from the "omenoni," the big stone men of the facade: one of the most curious of 16th-century Milan.
The eight colossal telamons, carved by Antonio Abondio, are defeated barbarians, inspired by Roman statues; above them you can read the names of their peoples, such as the Suebi, Parthians and Sarmatians. High up, in the frieze below the roof, the relief of Calumny torn apart by lions plays on the owner's surname.
Leoni, sculptor to Charles V and Philip II of Spain, was also a great collector: here there were works by Titian and Correggio and drawings by Leonardo, inherited from his pupil Francesco Melzi. It was his son Pompeo who gathered the sheets of the Codex Atlanticus, now at the Ambrosiana. Since 1924 the palace has housed the Clubino, an exclusive private club.
The eight colossal telamons, carved by Antonio Abondio, are defeated barbarians, inspired by Roman statues; above them you can read the names of their peoples, such as the Suebi, Parthians and Sarmatians. High up, in the frieze below the roof, the relief of Calumny torn apart by lions plays on the owner's surname.
Leoni, sculptor to Charles V and Philip II of Spain, was also a great collector: here there were works by Titian and Correggio and drawings by Leonardo, inherited from his pupil Francesco Melzi. It was his son Pompeo who gathered the sheets of the Codex Atlanticus, now at the Ambrosiana. Since 1924 the palace has housed the Clubino, an exclusive private club.