San Marco, Milan

Last updated
Church of Saint Mark
(Chiesa di San Marco)
5265MilanoSMarco.JPG
Façade of the church.
Religion
Affiliation Roman Catholic
Province Milan
StatusActive
Location
Location Milan, Italy
Geographic coordinates 45°28′24″N9°11′19″E / 45.473310°N 9.188607°E / 45.473310; 9.188607
Architecture
TypeChurch
Style Gothic; Baroque; Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking1245
Completed19c

San Marco is a church in Milan, northern Italy.

History

View of Facade of San Marco (1835) by Giuseppe Bisi, to the left extends the former laghetto Milan-Piazza San Marco-1835-Luigi Bisi.jpg
View of Facade of San Marco (1835) by Giuseppe Bisi, to the left extends the former laghetto

According to tradition, the church was dedicated to St. Mark, patron of Venice, after the help given by that city in the war against Frederick Barbarossa in the 12th century. However, the first mention of the church dates from 1254 when the Augustinians built a Gothic style edifice with a nave and two aisles re-using pre-existing constructions. The area of present Via San Marco contained a basin (artificial lake) called Laghetto di San Marco which connected to various canals (navigli); the basin was filled in the 1930s, and the area now sports a frequent outdoor market.

Contents

The structure was heavily modified in the Baroque style during the 17th century, when it became the largest church in the city after the Duomo di Milano.

In early 1770, the young Mozart resided in the monastery of San Marco for three months [1] and, on May 22, 1874, the first anniversary of the death of the Milanese poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni was commemorated in the church by the first performance of Verdi's Requiem , written in his honour.

Organists at the church have included Ruggier Trofeo. [2]

Art and architecture

Facade prior to 1871 refurbishment. Pozzi, Pompeo (1817-1880) - Milano - Chiesa di San Marco (1850s).jpg
Facade prior to 1871 refurbishment.

The façade dates from an 1871 restoration by Carlo Maciachini, who kept the marble portal with tympanum, a gallery of small arches, the rose window and three statues of saints attributed to Giovanni di Balduccio or the Master of Viboldone. In the lunette is a mosaic representing the Madonna between Saints, a copy of the original by Angelo Inganni.

The campanile dates from the 14th century. It was restored and completed in 1885. The interior, in the Baroque style, has a nave and two aisles.

In the first chapel on the right are frescoes by Gian Paolo Lomazzo. In the right transept is a fresco by the Fiammenghini [4] [5] with Alexander IV Instituting the Order of the Augustinians, under which a 14th-century Crucifixion was discovered in 1956. The author of the latter has been identified by Anovelo da Imbonate. The right arms of the transept houses also several sarcophagi from the mid-14th century, including the tomb of Lanfranco Settalo, counsellor of Archbishop Giovanni Visconti, by Giovanni di Balduccio.

Near the rear exit is a 16th-century tombstone portraying the Angel of the Resurrection, another fresco by the Fiammenghini (under which is a 14th-century fresco). On the side walls of the presbytery are frescoes depicting Dispute of St Ambrose and St Augustine by Camillo Procaccini and the Baptism of St. Augustine by Giovanni Battista Crespi.

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References

  1. ‘Mozart´s Stay in Milano’, mozartways.com.
  2. Greene, D.M. (1986). Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers. Collins. p. 109. ISBN   978-0-00-434363-1 . Retrieved 2022-07-18.
  3. Facade photography from 1850s by Pompeo Pozzi.
  4. ‘Rovere, della (ii)’, The Grove Dictionary of Art, artnet.com.
  5. Brothers Giovanni Battista della Rovere (1560 or 1561–1627) and Giovanni Mauro Della Rovere (1575–1640), painters active in Milan.

Sources