Santa Maria in Brera was 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 ...

, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It was built by the

Humiliati The Humiliati (Italian ''Umiliati'') were an Italian religious order of men formed probably in the 12th century. It was suppressed by a papal bull in 1571 though an associated order of women continued into the 20th century. Origin The origin of ...

between 1180 and 1229, given a marble

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

and

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

portal Portal often refers to: * Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...

Giovanni di Balduccio Giovanni di Balduccio (c. 1290 – after 1339) was an Italian sculptor of the Medieval period. Life The artist was born in Pisa, and likely did not train directly with the famous Pisan sculptor Andrea Pisano. He travelled to Milan to help s ...

in the fourteenth century, and

deconsecrated Deconsecration, also called secularization, is the act of removing a religious blessing from something that had been previously consecrated by a minister or priest of that religion. The practice is usually performed on churches or synagogues to ...

and partly demolished under Napoleonic rule in the early nineteenth century. The Napoleonic rooms of the

Pinacoteca di Brera The Pinacoteca di Brera ("Brera Art Gallery") is the main public gallery for paintings in Milan, Italy. It contains one of the foremost collections of Italian paintings from the 13th to the 20th century, an outgrowth of the cultural program of ...

occupy the upper floor of what was the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

History

Santa Maria in Brera was built between 1180 and 1229 as the church of a monastery of the order of the

. This was built on the lands of Guercio da Baggio, who may have been consul between 1150 and 1188, which shortly before 1178 passed into the hands of the order. A

of horizontal stripes of white and grey marble, with

ogival An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture and woodworking. Etymology The earliest use of the word ''ogive'' is found in the 13th c ...

windows and a

marble

, was added by the Pisan sculptor

between 1346 and 1348. There were frescoes by

Giovanni da Milano Giovanni da Milano (Giovanni di Jacopo di Guido da Caversaccio) was an Italian Painting, painter, known to be active in Florence and Rome between 1346 and 1369. His style is, like many Florentine painters of the time, considered to be derivative ...

, Vincenzo Foppa and

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 ...

. After the suppression of the Humiliati by

Pius V Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is v ...

on 7 February, 1571, the monastery became – at the request of

Carlo Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat ...

and with the approval of

Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

– a Jesuit college. To house it,

Palazzo Brera Palazzo Brera or Palazzo di Brera is a monumental palace in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It was a Jesuit college for two hundred years. It now houses several cultural institutions including the Accademia di Brera, the art academy of ...

was built to the north of the church, to designs of

Francesco Maria Richini Francesco Maria Richini (also spelled Ricchini) (9 February 1584 – 24 April 1658) was an Italian Baroque architect. Biography He was born in Milan and trained under Lorenzo Binago. He was patronized by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, Archbishop ...

, from about 1615. Following the

suppression of the Jesuits The suppression of the Jesuits was the removal of all members of the Society of Jesus from most of the countries of Western Europe and their colonies beginning in 1759, and the abolishment of the order by the Holy See in 1773. The Jesuits we ...

Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV ( la, Clemens XIV; it, Clemente XIV; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in Sep ...

on 21 July 1773, the palace passed to the government, at that time that of the Austrian

Habsburg dynasty The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

. The church was

in 1806. After the

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

ic suppression of the convents in the early 19th century, the

was torn down, and the

was divided horizontally. The upper floor became the Napoleonic rooms of the new Galleria Reale (now the

), the art gallery of the

Accademia di Belle Arti This is a list of the tertiary-level schools or academies of fine art in Italy that are recognised by the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca, the Italian ministry of higher education. Accademie di Belle Arti The offic ...

; the lower floor housed the sculptures of the museum of antiquities. Parts of the façade, including the ogival windows and some of the facing of grey and white marble, were incorporated by

Luigi Canonica (Cristoforo Maria) Luigi Canonica (Tesserete, Canton Ticino, 9 March 1762 – Milan, 7 February 1844) was a Swiss architect and urban planner whose prominent career as an exponent of neoclassicism was spent largely in Milan and Lombardy. He was th ...

in the , in the park of the

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

of the viceroy

Eugène de Beauharnais Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg (; 3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was a French nobleman, statesman, and military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marr ...

, Napoleon's nephew. Fragments of the portal are preserved in Room IV of the Museo d'Arte Antica in the

Sforza Castle The Castello Sforzesco (Italian for "Sforza's Castle") is a medieval fortification located in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later reno ...

Gallery

File:Monza-Parco-Villa-Reale-cascina-San-Fedele-06-ingresso.jpg, alt=a Gothic doorway , File:Monza-Parco-Villa-Reale-cascina-San-Fedele-11-bifora-destra.jpg, alt=a Gothic window , File:Monza-Parco-Villa-Reale-cascina-San-Fedele-12-colonnina-bifora.jpg, alt=a Gothic column , File:Monza-Parco-Villa-Reale-cascina-San-Fedele-15-stipite-ingresso-formella.jpg, alt=decorative panel , File:Monza-Parco-Villa-Reale-cascina-San-Fedele-16-stipite-ingresso-formella.jpg, alt=decorative panel ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria in Brera Milan Tourist attractions in Milan Culture in Milan Roman Catholic churches in Milan 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Gothic architecture in Milan