Measuring almost 3 x 3 metres, Cathedral Square, Milan is one of Gerhard Richter's largest figurative paintings. The work features the northern side of the cathedral square, onto which the shopping centre Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II faces. The façade of the 19th century Galleria covers a large area of the painting’s left side. This is a contrast to the right of the picture, where one can see two left side aisles of the gothic cathedral and the adjacent square.

As with the majority of Richter's paintings from the 1960s, Cathedral Square, Milan is executed in grey scale, however in this case Richter forgoes extreme contrasts of deep blacks and bright whites. The slightly blurred appearance of the painting, which Richter achieved by smudging over the paint later on, is one of Richter's characteristics. This painting features a specific kind of blurring: the artist treated the picture in a wave-like manner.

It is of note that Richter forgoes to feature the cathedral as Milan's most famous landmark. Instead he directs his attention to the immediate surroundings of the cathedral. The fact that Richter addressed the Milan cathedral in a painting as early as 1964 might offer an explanation: Milan, Cathedral [CR: 49] which is based on a photograph taken from a newspaper or magazine.

This painting was a commissioned work for the company Siemens Elettra and it remained at the company's headquarters in Milan for 30 years. According to Richter, this commission was the beginning of an ongoing preoccupation with townscapes: "Yes, sometimes I've enjoyed doing commissioned work in order to discover something that I wouldn't have found of my own accord. And so, when Siemens commissioned my first townscape, that led to all the townscapes that followed."¹

Whilst Richter worked on Cathedral Square, Milan, he created a second painting of Milan of the same measurements, which is Richter's first townscape based on an aerial photograph. Since the painting eventually did not meet the artist's expectations, Richter cut it into nine pieces which are listed as autonomous works in his catalogue raisonné: Townscape M1 to Townscape M9 [CR: 170/1-9]; one part of which has been painted over using grey paint. Following the two Milan paintings, between 1968 and 1970 Richter created 38 further townscapes. [All townscapes]

¹ Interview with Hans Ulrich Obrist, 1993 in: Gerhard Richter: Text. Writings, Interviews and Letters 1961–2007, Thames & Hudson, London, 2009, p. 301.

Notes prepared by editorial team

This artwork is based on an image included in Atlas:

This Atlas sheet includes the source images of the following works:

This artwork is included in the following publications:

		Title		Author		Date
Publisher Heni Publishing, London Details Softcover, 176 pages ISBN 9781912122240 Language English Category Monographs Notes A series of seven interviews between art curator Hans Ulrich Obrist and visual artist Gerhard Richter. Artwork Mentioned: pp. 26		The Richter Interviews		Obrist, Hans Ulrich / Richter, Gerhard edit		2019
Publisher University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis Details Softcover, 352 pages ISBN 978-1-5179-0045-8 Language English Category Monographs Artwork Mentioned: pp. 226		The Truth is Always Grey. A History of Modernist Painting		Guerin, Frances edit		2018
Publisher Travel-House-Media, München Details Softcover, 176 pages ISBN 9783834217301 Language German Category Monographs Artwork Mentioned: pp. 123		Köln. Eine Stadt in Biographien. Merian-Porträts		Driessen, Christoph / Lewandowski, Norbert edit		2014
In Die Welt Issue 24 September 2010 Publisher Springer, Hamburg Language German Category Newspaper Articles Artwork		Gerhard Richter: Die Hälfte im Museum ist Müll		Tittel, Cornelius edit		2010
Publisher Tate Publishing, London Details Softcover, 96 pages ISBN 9781854379641 Language English Category Monographs Artwork Discussed: pp. 65-69 Illustrated: p. 67 (b/w) In this publication, eminent American scholar and curator Robert Storr offers an authoritative consideration of September, Richter’s 2005 painting made in response to the attacks on the WorldTrade Center of 11 September 2001, ... More Details		September. A History Painting by Gerhard Richter		Storr, Robert edit		2010
Publisher University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL Details Hardback, 408 pages ISBN 9780226203232 Language English Category Monographs Artwork Discussed: pp. 156-158 Illustrated: p. 157 (b/w) Gerhard Richter has been widely regarded as a publicity shy artist. However, the biography Gerhard Richter. A Life in Painting gives an insight into Richter’s personal history as well as into the development of his artistic œuvre. ... More Details		Gerhard Richter. A Life in Painting		Elger, Dietmar edit		2009
Publisher DuMont, Köln Details Softcover, 415 pages ISBN 9783832190651 Language German Category Monographs Notes Corrected and extended new edition. Artwork Discussed: pp. 181 Gerhard Richter has been widely regarded as a publicity shy artist. However, the biography Gerhard Richter, Maler gives an insight into Richter’s personal history as well as into the development of his artistic œuvre. ... More Details		Gerhard Richter, Maler		Elger, Dietmar edit		2008
Publisher Richter Verlag, Düsseldorf in association with D.A.P Distributed Art Publishers, New York, NY Details Hardback, 324 pages ISBN 9783937572215 ISBN 393757221X Language English Category Solo Exhibitions Artwork Mentioned: pp. 27 Exhibitions Gerhard Richter, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany, 2005  Gerhard Richter, K20 Grabbeplatz, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2005  This catalogue raisonné records Richter’s works in the years 1993-2004. In his work, Gerhard Richter calls into question painting's boundaries, and the labels applied to painting and theories connected with them. ... More Details		Gerhard Richter. Catalogue Raisonné 1993–2004		Zweite, Armin edit		2005
Publisher Richter Verlag, Düsseldorf in association with D.A.P Distributed Art Publishers, New York, NY Details Hardback, 323 pages ISBN 9783937572208 ISBN 978-3937572208 Language German Category Solo Exhibitions Artwork Mentioned: pp. 25, 26 Exhibitions Gerhard Richter, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany, 2005  Gerhard Richter, K20 Grabbeplatz, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2005  This catalogue raisonné records Richter’s works in the years 1999-2004. In his work, Gerhard Richter calls into question painting's boundaries, and the labels applied to painting and theories connected with them. ... More Details		Gerhard Richter. Werkverzeichnis 1993-2004		Zweite, Armin edit		2005
Publisher The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY Details Softcover, 336 pages ISBN 0870703552 Language English Category Monographs Artwork Mentioned: pp. 62 Discussed: pp. 59, 60 Illustrated: p. 30 (b/w) Gerhard Richter is widely recognized as one of the most significant painters working today, and he is certainly among the most influential. He has worked in a wide range of media since the early 1960s, ... More Details		Gerhard Richter. Doubt and Belief in Painting		Storr, Robert edit		2003
Publisher DuMont, Köln Details Hardback, 420 pages ISBN 9783832158484 Language German Category Monographs Artwork Discussed: pp. 201 Gerhard Richter has been widely regarded as a publicity shy artist. However, the biography Gerhard Richter, Maler gives an insight into Richter’s personal history as well as into the development of his artistic œuvre. ... More Details		Gerhard Richter, Maler		Elger, Dietmar edit		2002
Publisher Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern-Ruit Details Hardback, 340 pages ISBN 9783775711692 Language German Category Solo Exhibitions Artwork Discussed: pp. 39, 40, 41 Illustrated: p. 145 (colour) Exhibitions Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., USA, 2002  Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, USA, 2002  Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA, 2002  Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA, 2002  Published on the occasion of the exhibition Gerhard Richter. 40 Years of Painting at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, this publication represents a broad range of Gerhard Richter's paintings of the last 40 years. ... More Details		Gerhard Richter. Malerei		Storr, Robert edit		2002
Publisher The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY Details Hardback Softcover, 340 pages ISBN 189102437X Language English Category Solo Exhibitions Artwork Mentioned: pp. 42, 43 Illustrated: p. 145 (colour) Exhibitions Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., USA, 2002  Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, USA, 2002  Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA, 2002  Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA, 2002  Published on the occasion of the exhibition Gerhard Richter. 40 Years of Painting at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, this publication represents a broad range of Gerhard Richter's paintings of the last 40 years. ... More Details		Gerhard Richter. Forty Years of Painting		Storr, Robert edit		2002
Publisher Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern-Ruit Details Hardback, 311 pages ISBN 3893228608 Language English German Category Group Exhibitions Artwork Mentioned: pp. 38, 48 Exhibitions Frieder Burda Collection: Gerhard Richter. Sigmar Polke. Arnulf Rainer, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden, Germany, 1996		Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Arnulf Rainer. Sammlung Frieder Burda = Collection Frieder Burda		Poetter, Jochen / Brehm, Margrit / Möckel, Birgit edit		1996
Publisher Franz Paludetto, Torino Details Hardback, 162 pages Language Italian English Category Group Exhibitions Artwork Exhibitions 65-75. Aspetti e Pratiche dell'arte Europea, Castello di Rivara, Turin, Italy, 1990		65 - 75. Aspetti e pratiche dell'arte europea		Magnani, Gregorio edit		1990
Publisher DuMont, Köln Details Softcover, 402 pages ISBN 3770117727 Language German English Category Solo Exhibitions Artwork Mentioned: pp. 24, 368 Illustrated: p. 68 (b/w) Exhibitions Gerhard Richter: Paintings 1962–1985, Museum moderner Kunst/Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna, Austria, 1986  Gerhard Richter: Paintings 1963–1986, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland, 1986  Gerhard Richter: Paintings 1962–1985, Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 1986  Gerhard Richter: Paintings 1962–1985, Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany, 1986		Gerhard Richter. Bilder = Paintings 1962 - 1985		Harten, Jürgen / Hering, Karl-Heinz / Honisch, Dieter / Loock, Ulrich / Ronte, Dieter / Elger, Dietmar edit		1986
Publisher Museum Folkwang, Essen Details Hardback, 154 pages Language Italian German English Category Solo Exhibitions Artwork Mentioned: pp. 39 Illustrated: p. 49 (b/w) Exhibitions 36th Venice Biennale, German Pavilion, Venice, Italy, 1972		Gerhard Richter. 36. Biennale di Venezia, Padiglione tedesco = 36. Biennale in Venedig, Deutscher Pavilion = 36. Biennale in Venice, German Pavilion		Honisch, Dieter / Helms, Dietrich / Honnef, Klaus / Ohff, Heinz / Dienst, Rolf Gunther / Schön, Rolf / Polke, Sigmar edit		1972

This artwork is shown or mentioned in the following videos:

Works September Robert Storr 2009   edit