Da "Il Caffé" alla “Gazzetta di Milano”: arti figurative e periodici nella Lombardia asburgica

Between the 17th and the 18th centuries in Italy’s journalistic sector, the output in the State of Milan was second only to Venice. This wealth of journals has not yet been used as a help- ful resource to provide news and opinions on works of art, architectural updates and guides on patron’s tastes. This essay takes a rst look at the subject matter, focusing on the journals published during the crucial decades of reformism under Maria Theresa and Joseph II, during which Habsburg’s Lombardy was the object of ambitious restructuring plans and reforms that included the cultural milieu. Noteworthy was the blossom- ing of newspapers, which were often founded and directed by prominent intellectuals such as Giuseppe Parini, Pietro Verri and Carlo Amoretti. They focused predominantly on literary news and erudite information of a European scope, but did not fail to address matters of art both on the news front and that of theoretic criticism.