Santa Maria delle Grazie ("Holy Mary of Grace") is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

and Dominican convent in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. The convent contains the

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

of ''

The Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

'' by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

, which is in the

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the Lat ...

History

Milano Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie Innen Langhaus Ost 2

Duke of Milan Francesco I Sforza ordered the construction of a Dominican

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

and church at the site of a prior chapel dedicated to the Marian devotion of St Mary of the Graces. The main architect,

Guiniforte Solari Guiniforte Solari (c. 1429 – c. 1481), also known as ''Boniforte'', was an Italian sculptor, architect and engineer. Born in Milan, he was the son of the architect Giovanni Solari, and brother of Francesco Solari. Guiniforte was chief engine ...

, designed the convent (the Gothic

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

), which was completed by 1469. Construction of the church took decades. Duke Ludovico Sforza decided to have the church serve as the Sforza family burial site, and rebuilt the cloister and the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

, both completed after 1490. Ludovico's wife Beatrice was buried in the church in 1497. The design of the apse of the church has been attributed to

Donato Bramante Donato Bramante ( , , ; 1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance styl ...

, as his name is inscribed in a piece of marble in the church vaults delivered in 1494. However, some dispute that he worked on the church at all. According to one source, in 1492–1497 Bramante worked on the crossing and the dome as well the transept apses and the coir with apse; this source also attributes a plan and section of the building to Bramante. Some documents mention the name Amadeo, likely

Giovanni Antonio Amadeo 260px, Amadeo, Milan Cathedral 260px, The Colleoni Chapel in Bergamo. Giovanni Antonio Amadeo (c. 1447 – 27 or 28 August 1522) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor of the Early Renaissance, architect, and engineer. Biography Amadeo was born ...

. There are similarities between this church and Amadeo's design for Santa Maria alla Fontana. In 1543, the

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian (Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, nea ...

altarpiece depicting Christ receiving the crown of thorns was installed in the Chapel of the Holy Crown, located on the right of the nave. The painting, looted by French troops in 1797, is now in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. This chapel is frescoed with ''Stories of the Passion'' by

Gaudenzio Ferrari Gaudenzio Ferrari (c. 1471 – 11 January 1546) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the Renaissance. Biography Gaudenzio was born to Franchino Ferrari at Valduggia in the Valsesia in the Duchy of Milan. Valduggia is now in the Province of V ...

. In the small cloister adjacent to the tribune near the door that leads to the sacristy is a fresco by

Bramantino Bartolomeo Suardi, best known as Bramantino ( – ), was an Italian painter and architect, mainly active in his native Milan. Biography He was born in Milan, the son of Alberto Suardi, but his biography remains unclear, and was long complicated ...

. The church also contained frescoes depicting the ''Resurrection and Passion'' by Bernardo Zenale. Composer and cellist Giovanni Perroni served as

maestro di cappella (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

at the cathedral from 1718–1720. Rudolf Schnitzler: "Perroni eroni Giovanni", ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed September 15, 2019)
(subscription access)

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, on the night of 15 August 1943, an allied

aerial bombardment An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...

hit the church and the convent. Much of the refectory was destroyed, but some walls survived, including the one that holds ''The Last Supper'', which had been sand-bagged in order to protect it. Some preservation works are done to maintain it for the future. It is believed that the current and future preservation works will keep the painting safe for many centuries to come.

Contemporary

Nowadays the ''Sacrestia vecchia'', or the Old Sacristy, designed and constructed by Donato Bramante, is the seat of a Dominican Cultural Centre (''Centro Culturale alle Grazie''), in which the brethren organize and host conferences on various themes pertaining to spirituality, philosophy, art, literature and sociology, in addition to musical concerts and artistic exhibitions.

References

Footnotes Citations

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria Delle Grazie (Milan) Roman Catholic churches completed in 1497 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Maria delle Grazie Renaissance architecture in Milan World Heritage Sites in Italy Donato Bramante church buildings Santa Maria delle Grazie Tourist attractions in Milan Gothic architecture in Milan

History

World War II

Contemporary

See also

References

Further reading

External links