Conservation restoration of the Basilica, the Baptistery, the Chapel of San Satiro, the Ansperto Tower and the parish-owned buildings.

The complex of Santa Maria presso San Satiro is traditionally regarded by architectural historians as one of the finest achievements of Renaissance culture in Milan during the second half of the fifteenth century and as one of the most significant works by Donato Bramante.

The complex consists of the Early Medieval Ansperto Tower, the Byzantine Chapel of San Satiro, and the Basilica of Santa Maria, which Bramante ingeniously inserted between the two pre-existing monuments through an architectural solution that created a unified and harmonious layout. The parish also owns several sixteenth- and seventeenth-century buildings, now used for residential and commercial purposes.

The restoration programme involved the exterior areas of the Basilica of Santa Maria, including the facades facing Via Torino and Via Falcone, the roof structures and coverings, and the external plaster finishes of the domes.

The Byzantine Chapel of San Satiro underwent restoration of its roofs, lantern and exterior façades, while the Ansperto Tower was subject to a comprehensive restoration programme, including partial structural consolidation and the reorganisation of the connections between the tower and the entrances to the Basilica.

Within the Baptistery, later layers of plaster were carefully removed to recover the original finishes. The terracotta decorative elements of the matroneum and the cast-iron components were cleaned and consolidated. Inside the Basilica, the frescoes depicting the Four Evangelists at the springing of the dome and within the drum were restored.

The interior restoration programme was completed with the design of a new architectural lighting system for the nave, the dome and Bramante’s celebrated illusionistic perspective.