General view
by BRAMANTE, Donato, Photo
The fa�ades, which have painted decorations (restored 19th century), are of uniform design, with ground-level columned porticos (as recommended by Vitruvius), an upper floor with arched windows and an attic. The bay sequence is broken, however, by two painted triumphal arches (only partly restored), which mark the position of roadways and were almost certainly designed by Bramante. One, positioned near the centre of the short western end, is a single-arch design; in combination with framing pilasters at the upper level, the arrangement closely resembles a slightly earlier archway in the piazza at Brescia.
The photo shows the Piazza Ducale with the tower of the Castello Sforzesco (Torre del Bramante), attributed to Bramante, in the centre, and one of the painted triumphal arches at right.