Door and arch in the Portinari Chapel in Milan

Free entry

The Portinari Chapel, a masterpiece of early Lombard Renaissance adjacent to the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio in Milan, houses Vincenzo Foppa's remarkable frescoes from the 1460s depicting the miracles of Saint Peter Martyr, where architectural elements frame spiritual narratives within illusory spaces. In Rinaldo Invernizzi's exhibition "Porta e arco nella Cappella Portinari a Milano," the artist draws inspiration from these architectural motifs—particularly doors and arches—transforming them into powerful symbolic thresholds that represent spiritual transition between worlds, echoing Christ's words in the Gospel of John: "I am the door: whoever enters through me will be saved."

Through his distinctive style of dark, textured brushstrokes and vibrant gestural lines, Invernizzi explores how these architectural elements simultaneously ground us in earthly reality while projecting us toward divine mystery—doors becoming metaphors of the passage from life to death, which is nothing more than a passage to eternal life according to the promise of the divine Master. Arches represent celestial perfection, and portals serve as sacred boundaries between different states of consciousness. The exhibition invites viewers to contemplate these architectural features not merely as structural components but as profound symbols that have resonated throughout Christian spirituality, connecting Foppa's Renaissance vision with contemporary artistic expression in a sacred space where past and present converge.