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 ...
. The
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
structure (1476-1482) houses the early medieval shrine to Satyrus, brother of Saint Ambrose. The church is known for its false
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''. ...
, an early example of ''
trompe-l'œil
''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...
'', 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 ...
.
History
The church lies on the site of a primitive worship place erected by the archbishop Anspertus in 879, dedicated to Saint Satyrus,
confessor
Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways.
Confessor of the Faith
Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Ambrose and Marcellina. The current church was instead built from 1472 to 1482 under commission from Duchess Bona di Savoia and Duke Gian Galeazzo Sforza. According to some sources, the designer was
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 ...
, who had recently moved from the Marche. However, recent documents prove that Bramante had a minor role, with most of the work being attributable to Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, who designed the façade. It is certain that Bramante is responsible for the sacristy perspective. According to sources attributing the entire chapel to Bramante, Agostino de Fondulis included a terracotta bust of the architect.
The edifice has a nave and two aisles with barrel vault. The nave is surmounted by a hemispherical dome at the crossing with the transept. The bell tower is still that of the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque edifice preceding the 1480s reconstruction. Also from the 15th century is the baptistry annexed to the church.
Originally the interior was decorated with white and gold paint. The walls had frescoes by Borgognone, now transferred to the Pinacoteca di Brera. The ancient sacellum of San Satiro was also covered with cotto (material), cotto decoration and enriched with a terracotta portraying the ''Dead Christ'' by Agostino de Fondulis. Also by the same artist are several terracotta busts in the sacristy, which is on the central plan, inspired to the Portinari Chapel of Sant'Eustorgio or to the Colleoni Chapel. The church contains an altarpiece of the ''Extasis of St Philip Neri'' (1764) by Giuseppe Peroni.
''Trompe-l'œil''
The choir, which had to be truncated a depth of only due to the presence of the road Via Falcone behind the church, was replaced by Bramante with a painted perspective, realizing in this way one of the first examples of ''
trompe-l'œil
''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...
'' in history of art.
File:SanSatiroInteriors.jpg, The interior with the Bramante's perspective illusion choir viewed from the nave.
File:SanSatiroInteriors3_crop.jpg, Bramante's perspective illusion choir viewed from the west transept.
See also
* History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes
* History of Italian Renaissance domes
* History of early modern period domes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Presso San Satiro
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1482
15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
Roman Catholic churches in Milan
Renaissance architecture in Milan
Donato Bramante church buildings
Tourist attractions in Milan