SANTA MARIA PRESSO SAN SATIRO

Description

Essentials about Santa Maria presso San Satiro in brief

Santa Maria presso San Satiro (Holy Mary by Saint Satyr) is a complex of sacred buildings in Milan, which contains three parts important in art history. The nucleus is a small central building from the 9th century, the core of which is still preserved. In the Renaissance, around 1480, the Church of St. Mary was added, famous for its unusual floor plan and the ingenious mock architecture of the choir by Donato Bramante. The sacristy, also designed by Bramante, is one of the important central buildings of the early Italian Renaissance.

The history of Santa Maria presso San Satiro

Archbishop Anspertus had the small central building built around 870 as a church for Saint Satyrus, a brother of the famous Bishop Ambrose of Milan. By order of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the adjoining Church of St. Mary was begun in 1478. Its construction history is relatively obscure. In particular, the part played by the famous master builder Donato Bramante is the subject of speculation. Historians generally assume that the idea of a central building concept for the church goes back to Bramante. The sculptor, architect and engineer Giovanni Antonio Amadeo was probably responsible for the construction management and realization in detail.

The architecture of Santa Maria presso San Satiro

During the construction of St. Mary’s Church, the space conditions proved to be extremely problematic. Due to a main street behind the church, there was not enough space for the construction. The choir therefore had to be shortened in length, which made the church appear strangely foreshortened. As the most famous and perhaps the most brilliant master builder of his time, Bramante was the right man for the job. To remove this obstacle, he simply created a grandiose optical illusion.

Optical illusions were a popular stylistic device in the late Renaissance and early Baroque. However, what Bramante accomplished in Santa Maria presso San Satiro elevated optical illusion to a new level. Anyone entering the church has the impression that they are looking at a much deeper space than in reality. This optical illusion disappears as soon as one leaves the main axis of the interior again. But as soon as you stand on the axis again, it is back again.

In 1483, Agostino de Fonduti built the sacristy according to Bramante’s design in the western angle between the nave and transept. Even after the fall of Duke Ludovico Moro and the departure of Bramante in 1499, the construction continued and was completed by 1514. Only the north façade, begun by Amadeo, was completed only in 1871, in a modification of his plans, in a cool-historical style.