Description
The Church of San Fedele is the Jesuits' church in the center of Milan, on the square between Palazzo Marino and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Commissioned by Saint Charles Borromeo and consecrated in 1579, it became a model for the churches of the Counter-Reformation.
Pellegrino Tibaldi designed it as a single great nave, so that everyone could see the altar and hear the sermon, with six Corinthian columns and the warm pink stone of Angera.
Look for the eight carved confessionals made by the Taurini between 1596 and 1603, with scenes from the Bible, and the Deposition by Simone Peterzano, in the first chapel on the left. In place of an old altarpiece there is a ceramic Sacred Heart by Lucio Fontana, from 1956.
San Fedele was Alessandro Manzoni's church: in early 1873 the writer fell on its steps on his way to Mass and died a few months later. A bronze plaque, to the left of the altar, marks the spot where he prayed; his statue stands in the square.
Pellegrino Tibaldi designed it as a single great nave, so that everyone could see the altar and hear the sermon, with six Corinthian columns and the warm pink stone of Angera.
Look for the eight carved confessionals made by the Taurini between 1596 and 1603, with scenes from the Bible, and the Deposition by Simone Peterzano, in the first chapel on the left. In place of an old altarpiece there is a ceramic Sacred Heart by Lucio Fontana, from 1956.
San Fedele was Alessandro Manzoni's church: in early 1873 the writer fell on its steps on his way to Mass and died a few months later. A bronze plaque, to the left of the altar, marks the spot where he prayed; his statue stands in the square.