Church of Santa Maria della Passione

The church of Santa Maria della Passione, located in the heart of Milan, is one of the largest and most important religious buildings in the city, a monument that reflects the richness and complexity of the Lombard Renaissance. Its construction began in 1486 at the initiative of the Lateran Canons, with the initial project entrusted to Giovanni Antonio Amadeo and later completed by architects such as Cristoforo Lombardo and Martino Bassi. The exterior of the church is imposing and austere, characterized by an incomplete Baroque facade that was started in the 17th century. The facade, designed by Giuseppe Rusnati, is decorated with reliefs and sculptures depicting episodes of the Passion of Christ, including the Deposition of Christ above the central portal and statues of angels on the sides. Despite the upper part of the facade never being completed, the overall effect is one of great grandeur and solemnity. The interior of the church is divided into three naves, a wide central nave and two side naves, leading towards the heart of the building, an imposing central octagon surmounted by a dome. This structure, inspired by many Marian sanctuaries of the Lombard Renaissance, is particularly notable for the octagonal lantern designed by Giovanni Battagio, with its Tuscan and Ionic semi-columns alternating niches and windows. The interior decoration of the church is a triumph of Mannerism and Lombard Baroque. The vault of the central nave is adorned with frescoes by Galberio, using delicate tones of gray and gold to create a luminous and suggestive effect. The pillars of the nave are decorated with octagonal canvases attributed to Daniele Crespi and his school, depicting saints and famous figures of the Lateran Order. The side chapels are a veritable treasure trove of art. The third chapel of the right nave houses a canvas by Giulio Cesare Procaccini, “The Flagellation”, representing one of the most dramatic and intense works of Lombard Mannerism. The fifth chapel, on the other hand, houses a fifteenth-century fresco of the Madonna of the Passion, restored and repainted in subsequent centuries, recalling the ancient Marian devotion of the place. The focal point of the church is the central octagon, with its frescoed dome and the decorated organ pipes with scenes of the Passion. The frescoes and altarpieces by Carlo Urbino and Daniele Crespi represent some of the masterpieces of Lombard Mannerist and Baroque painting. The Taverna chapel, which constitutes the right transept, is decorated with a cycle of frescoes by Carlo Urbino depicting the Passion of Christ, enriched by Mannerist stuccoes and the sixteenth-century ancona of the Deposition. The main altar, located in the left transept, houses the Last Supper by Gaudenzio Ferrari, one of the most famous works of the Lombard Renaissance, already praised by contemporaries for the majesty of the figures and the naturalism of the expressions. This work is a true masterpiece, capable of standing up to the famous Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. The apse of the church houses the choir with inlaid stalls attributed to Cristoforo Solari and frescoes by Panfilo Nuvolone depicting the Coronation of the Virgin. The altar, remade in the seventeenth century, is a Baroque work decorated with hard stones and polychrome marbles, surmounted by a small temple adorned with medallions painted by Cerano and Giulio Cesare Procaccini. Another point of great interest is the chapter house, decorated with a monumental cycle of paintings by Ambrogio Bergognone. The walls and ceiling are covered with frescoes and panels depicting Christ and the apostles, saints and popes of the Lateran Canons Order, creating an environment of great suggestion and spirituality. The complex of the church of Santa Maria della Passione also includes a convent, now home to the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory. The cloister of the convent, with its elegant arches and central garden, is an oasis of tranquility in the heart of the city, a place where art and history meet in a continuous dialogue.