Sant'Angelo (officially Santa Maria degli Angeli) 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 ...

, Lombardy, northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, belonging to the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

Order.

History

The church was constructed in the mid-16th century by the Spanish general and Governor Milan

Ferrante Gonzaga Ferrante I Gonzaga (also Ferdinando I Gonzaga; 28 January 1507 – 15 November 1557) was an Italian condottiero, a member of the House of Gonzaga and the founder of the branch of the Gonzaga of Guastalla. Biography He was born in Mantua, th ...

, over an edifice already existing in 1418, in replacement of the eponymous one, which had been destroyed to build the new walls. The design was by Domenico Giunti. The small bell tower was added in 1607, while the façade was finished only in 1630, in late-

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...

or early- Baroque style. The church is one of the few in the city which was not restored in "neo-medieval" style during the 19th century. It has a single nave with side chapels and barrel vault, a

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

and a deep presbytery. Artworks include works by

Gaudenzio Ferrari Gaudenzio Ferrari (c. 1471 – 11 January 1546) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the Renaissance. Biography Gaudenzio was born to Franchino Ferrari at Valduggia in the Valsesia in the Duchy of Milan. Valduggia is now in the Province of V ...

(chapel of St. Catherine, now replaced by a copy; the original is in 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 ...

), Antonio Campi (same chapel), Morazzone (a ''St.

Charles 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 ...

in Glory''), Simone Peterzano (frescoes in the St. Anthony Chapel),

Ottavio Semino Ottavio Semini (c. 1530–1604) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance. He was born and trained in Genoa and died in Milan. He was the son and pupil of Antonio Semini, and was influenced by Perino del Vaga. Aided his brother Andrea in ...

(Brasca Chapel in the transept),

Camillo Procaccini 300px, ''Nativity'' by Camillo Procaccini Camillo Procaccini (3 March 1561 at Parma – 21 August 1629) was an Italian painter. He has been posthumously referred to as the ''Vasari of Lombardy'', for his prolific Mannerist fresco decoration. Bo ...

(frescoes in the transept and in several chapels) and Giulio Cesare Procaccini (a ''Nativity'', in the

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

-style sacristy). The triumphal arch has a frescoes with a solemn ''Incoronation of Mary'' by Stefano Maria Legnani (Legnanino). In the transept is the tomb of Blessed Beatrice Casati, the wife and widow of Francino Rusca, the Earl of Locarno. She raised four children—three sons and one daughter, the latter of whom placed this monument to their mother—and was a devout member of the Franciscan tertiaries. She died in 1490. Her epitaph reads, “Here lies Beatrix, the shining jewel of the Rusca family, who was married to Count Francino. When she was left a widow, the sacred Franciscan Order sustained her in wonderful chastity under the shelter of your wings, and the Third Order provided her with a regime for living such that she rejoices with those who have been blessed by God above.” The convent is a 20th-century addition.

Funerals

The funerals of the Countess and fashion designer Marta

Marzotto The Marzotto Group is an Italian textile manufacturer, based in Valdagno. Created in 1836 as the ''Lanificio Luigi Marzotto & Figli''. In 2005 Marzotto Group's textile business separated from Valentino Fashion Group. The Group manufactures wo ...

took place in Sant'Angelo on 1 August 2016.

Notes

{{Milan landmarks 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Angelo Renaissance architecture in Milan Roman Catholic churches completed in 1630 1630 establishments in Italy Tourist attractions in Milan