Palazzo del Senato, Milan

Palazzo del Senato in Milan, Italy, began life as a Catholic seminary known as the Swiss College, built for the training of Swiss clergy in the late 16th and early 17th centuries and executed in a Baroque manner. From its foundation the site played a religious and later a civic role, first serving the Church and then hosting successive government bodies and, eventually, the city’s state archive.

Work on the site began in the 1580s, with a formal plan produced in 1582 and the seminary placed on land belonging to older monastic houses in 1583. Construction proceeded through the early 1600s, with major building phases beginning around 1613 and continuing into the middle decades of the century. In 1664 the complex expanded through the acquisition of the neighbouring monastery of San Primo and the adjacent church was enlarged and redecorated.

Life at the seminary could be turbulent. In 1621 students rose in a marked riot in response to disciplinary rules and problems with provisioning, an episode that entered contemporary records. The institution remained fundamentally ecclesiastical until imperial reforms at the end of the 18th century altered its role.

Emperor Joseph II’s suppression of many religious foundations transformed the palace’s purpose in 1786, when it became the seat of the Supreme Council of Government (Supremo consiglio di governo) and housed the reorganised civic administration. During the Napoleonic period the building accommodated several political bodies: in 1797 it held the lower chamber of the Cisalpine Republic, known as the Council of the Young (Consiglio de’ Juniori), and later hosted ministries for the Italian Republic and the Kingdom of Italy, including the Ministry of War. From 1809 the complex was commonly referred to as the Palace of the Senate, a name that endured.

The Napoleonic years left distinct traces inside and outside the palace. A large sculptural group by Antonio Canova representing Mars with Napoleon’s features was intended for the principal courtyard, but this work was later moved to the Brera. In April 1814 a crowd entered the building, destroyed official papers and furniture, and tore down an official portrait of Napoleon painted by Andrea Appiani; municipal authorities then abolished the former Senate. After Napoleon’s fall, returning Austrian authorities installed the Imperial Army Chancellery in the palace, and from 1817 the State Accounting office occupied the premises until 1859.

Mid-19th century administrative reform shifted the building again. Efforts to concentrate state records led to the placement of the archive’s direction in the palace from 1873, and by 1886 all archival holdings had been moved there, establishing the site as the State Archive of Milan. In the 20th century the complex suffered a severe blow in the aerial bombing of 12–13 July 1943, with loss of archival material and heavy damage to the western side. Earlier incompatible additions were removed in 1915, and extensive post-war reconstruction and conservation during the 1950s repaired and restored much of the fabric. Since the mid-20th century the restored palace has housed the State Archive and the regional archival superintendency for Lombardy.