Palazzo della Banca Commerciale Italiana, Neoclassical bank palace in Milan, Italy

Palazzo della Banca Commerciale Italiana stands on Piazza della Scala at number 6, its marble facade built by Luca Beltrami in the neoclassical style to mirror the Teatro alla Scala opposite. A central pediment rests on a giant order of Ionic columns, and an attic closes the upper edge. Inside, the hall and the grand staircase survive, and the basements hold the old vault with cast-iron safe-deposit boxes.

Architect Luca Beltrami created this building in the early 1900s as the headquarters for one of Italy's leading financial institutions. The palazzo was built during a period of economic growth in Milan, when the city was transforming into a modern European financial center.

Beltrami drew on the neoclassical forms of La Scala rather than the Art Nouveau then in fashion, giving the bank an air of authority and creating symmetry across Piazza della Scala. The building replaced the church of San Giovanni Decollato alle Case Rotte, a burial place for executed criminals, and the Caffè Martini, a meeting point of Milanese patriots after 1848.

The palazzo stands at Piazza della Scala 6, on the corner with Via Manzoni, opposite the La Scala theatre. It is now the twentieth-century section of the Gallerie d'Italia - Milano, so the visit is to the museum galleries rather than to a bank counter. The marble facade and its central pediment are best read from across the square.

Beltrami drew on the neoclassical forms of La Scala across the square, not on Renaissance models, so the marble facade answers the theatre. The choice was also practical: his standing helped secure permission to demolish the deconsecrated church of San Giovanni Decollato alle Case Rotte, long a burial place for executed criminals, and the Caffè Martini, a meeting point of Milanese patriots after 1848.