Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli
Church of Santa Maria dei MiracoliCorso Martiri della Libertà, 25122, Brescia (BS)
Between the late 15th and early 16th century, Brescia saw the birth of one of its most important places of worship: the Shrine dedicated to the Madonna and Child. The construction of the building was linked to a votive fresco that, according to tradition, had performed miracles during the plague of 1480-1484. The shrine, completed and enlarged over the following decades, houses works of great artistic value and has undergone modifications and restoration up to the present day.
THE CHURCH
The chiselled marble façade, a masterpiece of finesse, was entrusted to the Sanmicheli workshop and completed by 1500.
In the meantime, the church expanded, thanks to the offerings of the faithful and its growing fame. The interior was sculpted and decorated by Gasparo Cairano and his workshop, who also produced a powerful cycle of Apostles for the first dome, flanked by Tamagnino's angels.
In the following centuries, the shrine was enriched with works by artists such as Moretto, Tommaso Bona and Pier Maria Bagnadore, with pictorial cycles telling the stories of Jesus. Sadly, much of this heritage was destroyed during the Second World War. The façade, however, survived. As did the sculptures of the first dome. And it was from there that reconstruction started.
Today, the shrine still retains original sculptures, frescoes, elegant architectural elements and four domes hidden behind a lantern tower and an octagonal apse.
During the visit of Carlo Borromeo in the 1580s, the miraculous fresco of the Madonna and Child was moved inside the church, where it is still kept today.
Described by many as a masterpiece of the Lombard Renaissance, the church is the work of sixteen sculptors, including Antonio della Porta, Giovan Battista and Giovanni Stefano da Sesto, and of course Cairano.
