View of the façade

Returning to Milan in 1574, Annibale Fontana worked in the workshop of Santa Maria dei Miracoli presso San Celso. Additions to the fifteenth-century church were important elements of the development of Milan in the sixteenth century in the years of the archbishopric of Carlo Borromeo. From 1572 the main architect of the workshop was Martino Bassi (1542-1591) whose activity concentrated in particular on the fa�ade and on the altar of the miraculous effigy, which also represented the main fulcrum of Fontana’s activity.

The massive eclectic and Mannerist style fa�ade was designed by Galeazzo Alessi in the late 16th century and was realized by Martino Bassi; it is decorated by numerous statues and reliefs by Stoldo Lorenzi and Annibale Fontana.

Annibale Fontana worked on the fa�ade of the church from 1575 to 1587: he made the statues of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah for the lower niches, the two Sibyls on the main portal, the reliefs with the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Presentation in the Temple and the Wedding at Cana, the statue of the prophet Zechariah in the upper niche, two Angels of the fastigium.