Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Altre serie

Despite the title that might suggest a collection of "minor" importance compared to other partitions of the archive, this collection includes some of the most significant documents included in the Visconti archive: Pergamene, Manoscritti, Mappe, disegni e stampe. It is worth remembering that many parchments, manuscripts and drawings are also contained in the other sections of the archive, inserted in the original series.

The sub-series Documenti di particolare valore per la famiglia, Fotografie, Varie e Registri vari included in this fund, have not been inventoried for the time being.

Pergamene: the series consists of about 400 documents covering a chronological span from 1360 to 1667. The parchments record acts relative to the management of the patrimony of family members, but also documents issued by the Duke’s secretariat, by the offices of State in Milano, and by the city administration. Previously they were kept in 7 folders (A9 - A12 and A2l - A23), but for better preservation, the parchments have recently been packaged in new numbered boxes from 1 to 20.

The collection has a listed inventory; for some documents a register is available.

Manoscritti: the series includes 8 folders of documents of various origins dating between 1557 and 1888. As with the other series in the collection, these are papers taken from the general archive, probably during the 19th century, according to the collector's taste of the period. For this specific series we have the testimony of the archivist Gallarati who, in his diary of the work carried out, recalls the filing of this collection in the years 1896-97.

The folders are listed by subject, following the original order: art and artists, history (2 folders), religion and philosophy, sciences, miscellany of letters, history and science (2 folders).

Mappe, disegni e stampe: the fond has an inventory.

The series has 646 plates dating between 1630 and the middle of the 20th century. This voluminous and extraordinary iconographic legacy naturally describes the properties of the family in Milan and the surrounding territory, in Brianza, the province of Piacenza, and in Piedmont, but it also includes city maps, geographical maps (above all military maps of the First World War), and topographical reliefs for the construction of bridges, roads and railways (i.e. the Milan-Venice line). Of particular interest are the plates dedicated to the family’s palaces, villas, and industrial enterprises. These include Palazzo Anguissola in Piacenza, the Ducal Palace in Via Cerva 28 in Milan (destroyed by bombing in 1943), and the Vaprio d'Adda plant.  The collection of drawings of the Neo-Gothic family mausoleum in Cassago Brianza, by architect Giovanni Ceruti, is quite unique.
Some plates have been recently restored.