The Cimitero Monumentale is therefore a complex architectural landscape whose contents can be interpreted at different levels. The cemetery not only offers a means of witnessing the passage of various artistic phases, but also provides a window on the history of the city and the forms of self-representation adopted by its inhabitants. Studying the names engraved on the tombs is like checking up a sort of Milanese Who 's Who of those times, since to be buried in the Cimitero Monumentale was proof of economic stability and social status.