Description
Santa Maria dei Miracoli presso San Celso is a large Renaissance sanctuary on Corso Italia, in Milan, built to house an image of the Virgin believed to be miraculous. Behind an elegant four-sided portico by Cristoforo Solari rises a rich Carrara marble facade designed by Galeazzo Alessi.
Inside it is almost a gallery of 16th-century painting: in the ambulatory are the Baptism of Christ by Gaudenzio Ferrari and the Conversion of Saint Paul by Moretto, and in the right transept an altarpiece by Paris Bordone. In the left transept stands Annibale Fontana's marble Virgin of the Assumption, from 1586.
It all began on December 30, 1485 when, according to those present, during Mass the Virgin moved the veil that covered her image; shortly afterward the plague ended. For centuries Milanese brides, just married, have brought a bouquet of flowers to the Virgin here. Next door stands the older Church of San Celso.
Inside it is almost a gallery of 16th-century painting: in the ambulatory are the Baptism of Christ by Gaudenzio Ferrari and the Conversion of Saint Paul by Moretto, and in the right transept an altarpiece by Paris Bordone. In the left transept stands Annibale Fontana's marble Virgin of the Assumption, from 1586.
It all began on December 30, 1485 when, according to those present, during Mass the Virgin moved the veil that covered her image; shortly afterward the plague ended. For centuries Milanese brides, just married, have brought a bouquet of flowers to the Virgin here. Next door stands the older Church of San Celso.