Milan's Historic Cinema Arlecchino Reopens After Two-Month Closure

Milan's historic Cinema Arlecchino, which closed in February 2022 due to declining attendance and anti-Covid regulations, has unexpectedly reopened after two months. Unconfirmed reports suggest the cinema may become the new home of the Fondazione Cineteca Italiana, currently located in Piazza Oberdan, which would move to make room for the Meet Center, a project launched in 2020 and inaugurated in 2021 by Fondazione Cariplo. The single-screen cinema with about 400 seats opened in 1948 and quickly became a cultural landmark, appearing in numerous films and surviving as one of the last central cinemas alongside the Odeon. Its programming featured original-language films and art-house screenings, symbolizing Milan's and Italy's post-war cultural rebirth. The building was designed by architects Roberto Menghi and Mario Righini, with decorations by Lucio Fontana and Piero Fornasetti. Fontana created the mosaic and ceramic sculpture 'Arlecchino' for the entrance ceiling and the polychrome ceramic and fluorescent paint frieze 'Battaglia' at the base of the screen. The sculpture was later acquired by Fondazione Prada for its cinema foyer. The multicolored seats, featured in Domus issue 231 from 1948, echoed the carnival mask theme, as did the original polychrome wall decorations in the foyer, which were repainted during restorations in the early 2000s.