Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan

Santa Maria delle Grazie is a church joined to a Dominican convent, and its refectory houses Leonardo da Vinci’s mural of The Last Supper. The complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but its story reaches beyond that celebrated painting: Duke Francesco I Sforza commissioned the convent and church, built beside an earlier chapel devoted to Mary. Guiniforte Solari directed the convent’s construction, completing it by 1469.

Later, Ludovico Sforza reshaped the cloister and apse for a family burial place; his wife Beatrice was buried here in 1497. The apse is associated with Donato Bramante, whose name appears on a marble piece delivered to the church in 1494, though the extent of his work remains disputed. Bramante is also credited with the Old Sacristy, now used by the Dominican Cultural Centre for conferences, concerts and exhibitions.

The most astonishing chapter came during the Allied bombing of 15 August 1943. Much of the refectory collapsed, yet the wall carrying The Last Supper survived because it had been protected with sandbags. Restoration carried out from 1978 to 1999 addressed both the painting and the room around it, helping preserve Leonardo’s work for the future.