Santa Maria presso San Satiro (
Saint Mary near
Saint Satyrus) is a church in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
. The
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...
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 (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...
, an early example of ''
trompe-l'œil'', attributed to
Donato Bramante.
History
The church lies on the site of a primitive worship place erected by the archbishop
Anspertus in 879, dedicated to
Saint Satyrus,
confessor and brother of Saints
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, who had recently moved from the
Marche
Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...
. 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 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
Ambrogio Bergognone, now transferred to the
Pinacoteca di Brera. The ancient
sacellum of San Satiro was also covered with
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'' in the 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
References
External links
Page on the church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Presso San Satiro
Buildings and structures completed in 1482
Churches completed in the 1480s
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