San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore is a church in

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 ...

, Northern Italy. It was originally attached to the most important female convent of the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

s in the city, Monastero Maggiore, which is now in use as the Civic Archaeological Museum. The church today is used every Sunday from October to June to celebrate in the Byzantine Rite, in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

according to the Italo-Albanian tradition. It is also used as concert hall.

History

The complex was founded in Lombard times, partially re-using ancient Roman edifices. Of these, there remain a polygonal tower, a relic of the ancient Maximian walls, and a square one, originally part of the lost

Hippodrome The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used i ...

and later adopted as the church's bell tower. The monastery is now home to Milan's Archaeological Museum. The Benedictine Monastery is documented starting from the 8th-9th century. The monastery and its church were initially dedicated to Mary. In 964, the emperor Otto I, donated a relic of St. Maurice to the monastery. There were vast vegetable gardens surrounding the religious complex."Chiesa di S. Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore", Lombardy Cultural Heritage
/ref> The church was completely rebuilt, starting in 1503, under the design of Gian Giacomo Dolcebuono in collaboration with

Giovanni Antonio Amadeo 260px, Amadeo, Milan Cathedral 260px, The Colleoni Chapel in Bergamo. Giovanni Antonio Amadeo (c. 1447 – 27 or 28 August 1522) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor of the Early Renaissance, architect, and engineer. Biography Amadeo was born ...

. The edifice was finished fifteen years later by Cristoforo Solari, divided into two parts: one for the faithful, one for the nuns."La storia della chiesa", Museo Archeologico di Milano
/ref> In 1864 the monastery became the property of the Municipality.

Description

The façade is covered with grey stone from

Ornavasso Ornavasso (Ossolano: ''Urnavass'', Walser German: ''Urnafasch'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Verbania. Overview Or ...

. The interior has a vaulted nave separated by the division wall (the nuns followed the mass from a grating) and flanked by groin-vaulted chapels, which are surmounted by a

serliana A Venetian window (also known as a Serlian window) is a large tripartite window which is a key element in Palladian architecture. Although Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554) did not invent it, the window features largely in the work of the Italian ar ...

loggia. The most important artwork of the church is the cycle of frescoes from the 16th century covering the walls. Ippolita Sforza and her husband Alessandro Bentivoglio appear to be the main patrons of the decoration of the Renaissance church. Ippolita's daughter was a nun at the monastery. The dividing wall has frescoes depicting the ''Life of San Maurizio'' by

Bernardino Luini Bernardino Luini (c. 1480/82 – June 1532) was a north Italian painter from Leonardo's circle during the High Renaissance. Both Luini and Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio were said to have worked with Leonardo directly; he was described as having ...

which flank an altarpiece with an ''Adoration of the Magi'' by Antonio Campi. The chapels in the faithful's area are by Aurelio Luini, son of Bernardino, and his brothers. The counterfaçade has a fresco by Simone Peterzano (1573). In the third chapel on the right, the Besozzi chapel, Bernardino Luini frescoed a depiction of the martyrdom of St. Catherine of Alexandria (1530). Frescos are also influed by Forlivese school of art (

Melozzo da Forlì Melozzo da Forlì (c. 1438 – 8 November 1494) was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. His fresco paintings are notable for the use of foreshortening. He was the most important member of the Forlì painting school. Biography ...

and

Marco Palmezzano Marco Palmezzano (1460–1539) was an Italian painter and architect, belonging to the Forlì painting school, who painted in a style recalling earlier Northern Renaissance models. He was mostly active near Forlì. Biography Palmezzano was ...

"Aula delle Monache"

The hall of the nuns is also completely painted. The partition wall, a work by Bernardino Luini always the thirties of the sixteenth century, presents images of Saint Catherine, Saint Agatha, the Marriage at Cana, the Carrying of the Cross of Christ on the Cross and Christ died. On the vault of the hall of the nuns is depicted a starry sky, with God, the Evangelists, and angels. In the end, there is the painting Ecce Homo.

Organ

In the hall of Nuns there is an organ of 1554 by Giovan Giacomo Antegnati entirely by mechanical transmission, consisting of a keyboard of 50 notes and a pedal 20, constantly united to the keyboard. It is located in the choir loft above the choir stalls, on the right side."S. Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore", Mascioni
/ref>

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:San Maurizio Al Monastero Maggiore 1518 establishments in Italy Religious buildings and structures completed in 1518 Maurizio Monastero Maggiore Renaissance architecture in Milan Tourist attractions in Milan 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy