The Architect Alberto Artioli is the Superintendent of Beni Architettonici della Lombardia Occidentale* which includes three-quarters of the region of Lombardy and in Milan supervision of Leonardo’s Last Supper.

Where do you live and why?

I live in the town of Saronno in the direction of Como. It is only 18km from Milan and in a little over a quarter of an hour I can be in the city – and it also offers me a bit of greenery.

What advice would you give a tourist. Any must dos?

Apart from all of the things you can find in any guide book – the Duomo, La Scala, Castello Sforzesco and so on – I should suggest a hidden jewel which is the trompe-l’œil apse found in the church of San Satiro by Bramante. It is literally around the corner from the Duomo and it is something you can show to children or even people not so interested in art. Bramante worked here before going to Rome where he started building St Peter’s. His work in Milan, then, is a sort of model for later European architecture.

If he should have more time I would suggest going by car to see the Charterhouse of Pavia which is not only a beautiful monument of the fifteenth century but also one that completely preserves an atmosphere uncontaminated by the modern world.

What advice would you give a visiting businessperson?

To allot some time or take some time off from business to see something artistic related to business Piazza degli Affari (the stock exchange and business centre) built in 1928-1940 and then go visit the Via dei Mercanti where you find the oldest square in Milan and where there was the medieval “stock exchange” with the Palazzo della Ragione and Palazzo dei Giureconsulti.

What and where have been your most memorable meals?

I am not that much interested in deluxe dining. I prefer restaurants like L’Altra Isola in via dei Bernardini, it is truly Milanese, a bit hidden and is not catering to tourists.

Where would you take guests to impress them?

Actually, I don’t have to go far as apart from showing guests The Last Supper, all I have to do to further impress them is to take them behind the scenes of Leonardo’s fresco. Today, the wall of the painting has a complicated modern structure to support it, but behind that wall where once the monks had their kitchens (The Last Supper is a painting on a refectory wall) we now have a whole system of computers connected to sensors that measure and analyse the humidity, movements and so on.

I had wanted to show this to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip but, unfortunately, their majesties’ protocol did not allow us to do this.

What do you miss about Milan when away?

I miss the ease and moderation in working together. Despite all the problems of urban life, Milan is still the most European of Italian cities.

Its real life is in its “hinterland”, an area that has seen and is still seeing many changes, where old industrial structures if not down-scaled have been converted into housing making it yet more liveable.

* Architectonic public domain of Lombardy