VISIT REPORT
SANTA MARIA DELLA GRAZIE & SAN SATIRO
DATE OF VISIT: OCTOBER 11TH, 2019 SUBMITTED BY ALISHA P. M.
ABSTRACT The objective of the visit was to find the link between these two monumental churches. As a result of our secondary research, I found out that the link was Donato Bramante. Bramante being an architect who introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan created the famous trompe-l’oeil choir of the San Satiro and built the tribune of Santa Maria Delle Grazie. Trompe-l’œil is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions. Forced perspective is a comparable illusion in architecture. As Bramante’s name is inscribed in a piece of marble in the church vaults of Santa Maria Della Grazie, to attribute the apse he designed. In Architecture, an Apse is the term is applied to a semi-circular or polygonal termination of the main building where the altar is, regardless of the shape of the roof, which may be flat, sloping, domed, or hemispherical.
Santa Maria Della Grazie The Gothic-styled Saint Mary’s church in Mumbai and Catholic Gothic-styled Saint Mary’s Basilica Church in Bangalore are great examples of European influence on British architecture as it traveled to India during the late 1800s and early 1900s. But that did not prepare us to be faced with the the grandiosity of these two high renaissance churches. Compared to the heavy detailed Baroque period temples, the contrast between the way each area of the church was decorated is quite clear. the prayer area is a bit dimmed out to solely focus on the stature of the lord in front and the use of white marble specifically near a high ceiling window to create a halo-like appearance atop the figurings it topped, is simply genius. How a certain place will make one act and react a certain way- can be experienced here. Most of the time people find peace within the silence around them, but in the case of both of these shrines, there is so much noise and visuals within the walls and ceiling above, one gets occupied with that alone. One will get lost within the stories being told by the walls, one will try to find himself under the golden arched ceiling because, despite its royal splendor, one can relate to the story being told by the walls. It is a very meaningful and spiritual place where one can have an extraordinary out-of-body experience.
San Satiro Duke of Milan Francesco I Sforza ordered the construction of a Dominican convent and church at the site of a prior chapel dedicated to the Marian devotion to St Mary of the Graces. The main architect, Guiniforte Solari designed the convent, which was completed by 1469. The construction of the church took decades to complete. Duke Ludovico Sforza decided to have the church serve as the Sforza family burial site, and rebuilt the cloister and the apse, 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, as his name is inscribed in a piece of marble in the church vaults delivered in 1494. In 1543, the Titian 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. This chapel is frescoed with their Stories of the Passion by Gaudenzio Ferrari. In the small cloister adjacent to the tribune near the door that leads to the sacristy is a fresco by Bramantino. The church also contained frescoes depicting the Resurrection and Passion by Bernardo Zenale. Composer and cellist Giovanni Perroni served as maestro di cappella at the cathedral from 1718-1720.
This report was submitted to Professor Arturo Dell'Acqua for the sixth assignment of the subject History Of Design. | All images included in this report are clicked on Canon EOS 200D