Casa Atellani, Renaissance palazzo in Corso Magenta, Milan, Italy

Casa Atellani is a Renaissance palazzo on Corso Magenta featuring a renovated facade with four medallions displaying Sforza family portraits. The property includes a restored neo-Baroque garden and rooms with historical frescoes and decorative elements from different periods.

Ludovico Sforza bought the house in 1490 from the Landi, counts of Piacenza, and gave it to his courtiers, the Atellani, whose feasts filled the chronicles of the Sforza court. In 1922 the Conti family had it restored by Piero Portaluppi, who reworked the facade and recovered original frescoes.

The Hall of the Zodiac takes its name from fourteen lunettes, two more than the twelve zodiac signs because Piero Portaluppi enlarged the room in 1922 by demolishing an oblique windowed wall. The added lunettes carry the motto "Faire sans dire" and the initials H and J of Ettore Conti and his wife Giannina Casati. The west wall shows frequent retouches; the east walls, restored in 1922, are authentic.

The building sits just steps from the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, where Leonardo's Last Supper painting is located. Visitors can easily combine both sites in a single outing and should plan a couple of hours to explore the rooms and garden.

The vineyard lies in the garden, not inside the house: Ludovico il Moro gave it to Leonardo as payment for his work. Excavation of the original roots identified the variety as Malvasia di Candia, and the University of Milan helped replant it.