Beholder of a changing city
Welcome to the virtual tour of the Bicocca degli Arcimboldi, which will take you through the history and rooms of this wonderful Renaissance building, now the official reception centre of the Pirelli Group. Here are some useful tips to give you a better browsing experience.
You can walk virtually through the rooms, moving in any direction, to whichever room or floor you like, using the arrows you see on the main screen.
A fixed icon at the top right gives you direct access to the various rooms and lets you examine the information that will enrich your virtual experience. Press the button at the bottom right to access this content. The Pirelli Foundation has selected documents and images that let you discover the history of the villa and its close bond with the company.
You can save time by pressing the button at the bottom left, which will take you directly to the next room.
Enjoy the tour!
The Pirelli Foundation staff
Latest discoveries
The restoration of the rooftop loggia in 1998 brought to light a series of fifteenth-century geometric plant engravings, as well as some figures, on some portions of the walls between the two-light windows. This suggests that the space was once divided into a number of rooms. The first full-length figure, which emerges from a fake niche, presumably dates from the sixteenth century and has been attributed to Giuseppe Arcimboldi. The second, a faded fifteenth-century preparatory drawing in red ochre, shows a headless knight with a sword, footwear and knee pads. The base, from the restoration by the architect Ambrogio Annoni, on the other hand, imitates drapes decorated with the gold stars of the Arcimboldis and the monograms of the most important members of the family.
Portion of a wall of the rooftop loggia with fresco decoration and a two-light window
Detail of the fresco, showing a man in a niche, attributed to Giuseppe Arcimboldi, the father of the famous painter Arcimboldo
One of the two-light windows of the rooftop loggia, offering a glimpse of the greenery around the Bicocca degli Arcimboldi
The base of the loggia with trompe-l’oeil drapes decorated with gold stars and the monograms of the leading members of the family, restored by the architect Ambrogio Annoni
Photograph of the rooftop loggia published in Pirelli magazine, 1959
A view through the centuries
The top floor of the building is a single large space measuring about 30 metres by 11, covered by wooden trusses and facing towards what is now the Bicocca district, which it overlooks through a series of two-light windows. The columns and coats of arms on the capitals would originally have been plastered and painted. Designed as a breezy place where one could escape the summer heat and enjoy a magnificent view all around, the rooftop loggia now looks out over the Bicocca district and the Pirelli headquarters.
Current view of the rooftop loggia with its wooden truss roof and two-light windows
View of the Pirelli Pro Patria sports field from the upper loggia of the villa, 1922
Detail of the exterior of the rooftop loggia published in the book La Bicocca degli Arcimboldi by Ambrogio Annoni, 1922