Page 75 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Milan & The Lakes

NOR THWEST MILAN  73

q Casa degli was completed in 1490.
Atellani and Two years later Lodovico il
Vigna di Leonardo Moro asked Bramante to
change the church into the
Corso Magenta 65. Map 6 F1. family mausoleum: Solari’s
Tel 02-48 16 150. q 1, 2 Cadorna, apse section was demolished
1 Conciliazione. v 16, 19. and replaced by a Renaissance
Open 9am–6pm daily. Closed 1 Jan, apse. After il Moro lost power
1 May, 2 Jun, 25 & 26 Dec. 7 in 1500, the Dominicans
∑ vignadileonardo.com continued to decorate the
church, later assisted by the
Ludovico il Moro Sforza, court of Inquisition, which
Duke of Milan, wanted had moved here in 1558.
to create a residential Restor ation was undertaken
neighbourhood where he only in the late 19th century.
could establish his most In 1943 a bomb destroyed
loyal followers. In 1490, he the main cloister, but the
gave houses to the Atellani apse and the room containing The ogival arches in the nave of Santa
family of Sforza courtiers and Leonardo’s Last Supper were Maria delle Grazie
to Leonardo da Vinci. In 1498, miraculously left intact;
he also gave Leonardo a restoration work has continued next chapel is a Crucifixion
vineyard. Casa degli Atellani since then. On the exterior, by Giovanni Demìo (1542).
is one of the few traces left Solari’s wide brick façade is The apse, decorated only
of Ludovico’s Renaissance worthy of note. The doorway with graffiti to maintain the
dream. Over the course of was designed by Bramante; purity of the architectural
the 20th century, it was it is preceded by a porch volumes, is a perfect cube
transformed by Piero supported by Corinthian crowned by a hemisphere.
Portaluppi, a major Milanese columns and the lunette It was built to house the
architect, while still retaining has a painting by Leonardo tomb of Lodovico il Moro
its grandeur. Both the house da Vinci with the Madonna and Beatrice d’Este, but the
and the vineyard in the garden between Lodovico and his work never reached Santa
are open to the public. wife, Beatrice d’Este. The Maria delle Grazie (it is now
sides and poly gonal apse in the Charterhouse of Pavia).
are also of interest. As you The decoration of the dome
w Santa Maria enter the church you notice is rich in Marian symbols,
delle Grazie the difference between while the Doctors of the
Solari’s nave, which echoes Church appear in the roundels
Piazza Santa Maria delle Grazie. Lombard Gothic architecture – in the pendentives. The carved
Map 2 F5. Tel 02-46 76 111. q 1, 2 entirely covered with frescoes and inlaid wooden stalls of the
Cadorna, 1 Conciliazione. v 16. and with ogival arches – and choir are lovely.
Open 7am–noon, 3–7pm Mon–Sat, Bramante’s design for the A door on the right leads
7:30am–12:15pm, 3:30–8:15pm Sun. apse, which is larger, better to the small cloister known as
5 7:30, 8 (except Jul–mid-Sep),
8:30 & 9:30am, 6:30pm Mon–Sat; lit and is almost bare of Chiostrino delle Rane because
decoration. The two parts of
of the frogs (rane) in the central
6:30pm pre-hols; 7, 9:30, 10:30 &
11:30am, 6:30 & 8pm (except Jul & the church reflect Bramante’s basin. The cloister leads to the
Aug) hols. impact on Milanese culture; old sacristy, with its painted
he introduced the Renaissance wardrobes, one of which
Construction of this church style that dominated Tuscany conceals a secret underground
designed by Guiniforte and Umbria in the early 15th passageway, used by Lodovico
Solari, began in 1463 and century. The all-pervasive to come from the Castello on
painting decora tion of the horseback. Back in the church,
aisle walls is by Bernardino the chapels in the north aisle
Butinone and Donato begin with the Madonna delle
Montorfano (1482–6). The Grazie chapel, with Cerano’s
Della Torre chapel is the first Madonna Freeing Milan of the
one in the right-hand aisle: Plague (1631) on the entrance
the altar has a 15th-century archway. The altarpiece,
fresco and to the left is the Madonna delle Grazie, dates
tomb of Giacomo Della Torre, from the 15th century. The
with bas-relief sculpture by sixth chapel has a Holy
the Cazzaniga brothers (1483). Family with St Catherine by
The fourth chapel, dedicated Paris Bordone, and the first
The façade of Santa Maria delle Grazie, to Santa Corona, has frescoes chapel contains the cloak of
designed by Guiniforte Solari by Gaudenzio Ferrari. In the St Catherine of Siena.

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