Exterior view
by BRAMANTE, Donato, Photo
The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan had been started in Gothic style in 1463, but in 1492 Duke Ludovico Sforza ordered the choir to be torn down and replaced by a Renaissance structure to house the tombs of the Sforza dynasty; Leonardo’s drawings for a centrally planned church may be related to this project. Although no document connects Bramante’s name with the present apse, transept, crossing and dome, they are attributed to him under the influence of Leonardo da Vinci, whose ideas on radial architecture they reflect. Whether or not all the surface decorations were designed by Bramante himself, the structure is composed, like the examples in Leonardo’s drawings, of permutations and combinations of geometric forms such as cubes, hemispheres, half-cylinders, and the like.
The photo shows the apse and tribune.
View the ground plan and section of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.