The Cities of the Barnabites: Some Urban Settlements of the Congregation Between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century

Abstract

The Archivio Storico di San Barnaba in Milan holds a heterogeneous graphic collection, that dates from the second half of the sixteenth century (Cartella Grande I and II) and includes architectural drawings, sketches of liturgical machineries, preparatory studies for hagiographic cycles and printed illustrations, reliefs and building projects. The latter category also includes the production connected to new foundations promoted by the congregation of the Barnabites between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in major Italian centers. The article aims to discuss some pieces of the graphic corpus to investigate the urban context where the building is inserted and the possible settlement dynamics followed by the Barnabites. Unlike other religious orders, it does not seem that they adopted recurring strategies; on the contrary, they occupied the site according to criteria of practicality and profit, in harmony with the values ​​of rigor and concrete humility typical of their charisma.