SANTA MARIA DELLE GRAZIE (MILAN)

'Santa Maria delle Grazie' is a famous church in Milan, included in the UNESCO World Heritage sites list.
The church is also famous for the mural of the ''Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci, which is in the refectory of the convent.

Contents

History

References

See also

External links

History

The Duke of Milan Francesco I Sforza ordered to build a Dominican convent and a church in the place where a small chapel dedicated to St. Mary of the Graces was.

The main architect was Guiniforte Solari, the convent was completed by 1469 while the church took more time. The new duke Ludovico Sforza decided to have the church as the Sforza family burial place and rebuild the cloyster and the apse which were completed after 1490.
Ludovico's wife Beatrice was buried in the church in 1497.
The apse of the church is widely believed to be by Donato Bramante.
Howevere there's no real evidence of the fact, but that Bramante lived in Milan at the time and he is once
quoted in the acts of the church (a marble delivery in 1494).
==World War II==
The night of August 15 1943, bombs dropped by British and American planes hit the church and the convent. Much of the refectory was destroyed, but for some walls, including the one that holds the ''Last Supper'', which also had been sand-bagged for protection.

References

★ Milano, , , , Italian Touring Club, 2003, ISBN 88-365-2766-3

★ I Signori di Milano, , Guido, Lòpez, Newton & Compton, 2002, ISBN 88-8289-951-9
need more info

See also

★ The Last Supper by Leonardo

External links

★ Official website (English version)

★ Leonardo's Last Supper: QTVR