Santa Maria delle Grazie
On Milan's Corso Magenta, this brick-and-white-marble church is modest enough to walk past without a second glance. It is a Dominican church and pilgrimage site: between 1492 and 1493, the Duke of Milan Ludovico il Moro commissioned a Renaissance apse tribune to be added at the east end as a mausoleum for the Sforza dynasty — one of the finest examples of Lombard Renaissance architecture. What brings the world here is the mural Leonardo da Vinci painted on the refectory wall: The Last Supper, which made this the second UNESCO World Heritage Site in Italy after the rock art of Val Camonica. Step inside, and the chapels, cloisters, and old sacristy along either side hold far more than most visitors ever stop to see.
Italy · 19 The overlooked corners inside
The overlooked corners inside
The Last Supper
People call it a fresco — but it isn't. Leonardo disliked the pace that true fresco demands: wet plaster, one shot to get it right, no revisions. That ran against every instinct he had. So he worked instead like a panel painter, building up layers of paint on a dry wall. The result — a surface 460 by 880 cm — gained extraordinary tonal richness and the kind of subtle detail you can only see up close. The price was fragility from the start. Commissioned by Ludovico il Moro in 1494 for the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie and completed in 1498, it is Leonardo's most celebrated work and the defining masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance.
Sources: it.wikipedia.org
Architecture & Nave
Look up as you walk in, and you're looking at two buildings stitched together. The front half — a low, dim three-aisled nave — is the work of the Lombard architect Guiniforte Solari, rooted in the local Gothic tradition. Cross the transept and the light changes: Bramante's great apse tribune opens overhead, a sweeping hemispherical dome that floods Solari's originally shadowed interior with brightness.
Sources: it.wikipedia.org
Chapel of the Adoration of the Virgin
Step into the first chapel on the right: the altarpiece wasn't made for this space. It is a detached fresco transferred here from the seventh chapel (the Chapel of Our Lady of Grace), showing the Virgin adoring the Christ Child with donor portraits along the lower edge. The author is unknown; the work dates to the late fifteenth century and still carries traces of the late Gothic style. The chapel originally belonged to Paolo da Cannobio and was dedicated to Saint Paul — a painting of Saint Paul by Gaudenzio Ferrari once stood on the altar but was confiscated by the French during the early nineteenth-century occupation and is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.
Sources: it.wikipedia.org
Chapel of Saint Martin de Porres
The second chapel on the right is dedicated to Saint Martin de Porres. The altarpiece — showing Saint Martin in ecstasy — was painted by Silvio Consadori in 1962. Around the walls stand four sixteenth-century cenotaphs. An earlier work is also visible: a fresco of Saint Martin on horseback, cutting his cloak in half to give to a poor man. Painted around the early sixteenth century, it was detached and transferred to canvas in 1959–60 and is now kept in the new sacristy.
Sources: it.wikipedia.org
Chapel of the Angels (Marliani Chapel)
The third chapel on the right is known as the Chapel of the Angels, or by its earlier patrons' name, the Marliani Chapel. The frescoes and altarpiece are by an unidentified sixteenth-century Lombard painter working in a manner close to followers of Parmigianino; the subject is the Archangel Michael, dating to around 1560. The vault above is painted with the nine orders of angels, also by an unknown hand. On the two spandrel niches: on the left, the rebel angels cast out of Heaven; on the right, the Angel Gabriel sent down to earth — both attributed to the sons of Bernardino Luini.
Sources: it.wikipedia.org
Chapel of the Holy Crown of Thorns
The fourth chapel on the right once belonged to the Confraternity of the Holy Crown of Tho… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
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Chapel of Saint Dominic
The fifth chapel on the right was originally the tomb chapel of the Vimercati family: Agos… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
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Chapel of Saint Vincent Ferrer (Atellani Chapel)
The sixth chapel on the right once belonged to the Atellani family, whose four-hundred-yea… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
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Chapel of Saint John the Baptist
The seventh and last chapel on the right is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. The origi… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
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Chapel of Saint Catherine
The first chapel on the left is the Chapel of Saint Catherine, also called the Bolla Chape… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
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Chapel of Saint John the Evangelist
The fourth chapel on the left is dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist, built under the p… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
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Chapel of Saint Joseph
The sixth chapel on the left is dedicated to Saint Joseph and was entirely rebuilt after t… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
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Chapel of Our Lady of Grace
The last chapel on the left is the Chapel of Our Lady of Grace — the starting point of the… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
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Cloister of the Frogs (Small Cloister)
On the passage between the church and the sacristy, a small square cloister takes its name… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
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Old Sacristy (Bramante Sacristy)
Cross the Cloister of the Frogs and you reach the old sacristy, also known as the Bramante… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
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Other Cloisters
Beyond the famous Cloister of the Frogs, the convent has three larger cloisters, all going… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
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Other Rooms
Along the east side of the Cloister of the Dead there was once a Chapter House (Sala del C… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
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Organ
Near the chancel in the main nave you can hear — or see — the church organ. The instrument… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
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The Vincian Refectory
The refectory (refettorio) is the room that holds The Last Supper — but the building itsel… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: it.wikipedia.org
FAQ
What overlooked corners are worth seeing inside Santa Maria delle Grazie?
The Last Supper, Architecture & Nave, Chapel of the Adoration of the Virgin and more — 19 spots in all, each with sources and a guide in your language to read or listen to on the spot.
Is the Santa Maria delle Grazie guide free?
The first 5 spots are free to read; the other 14 unlock with a one-time purchase (not a subscription).