Chiesa di Santa Maria presso San Satiro, Milan

Santa Maria presso San Satiro is a church whose most astonishing feature is an apse that appears deep but is actually painted perspective. The space behind the choir allowed only 90 cm because Via Falcone runs behind the building, so Bramante created an illusion that makes the sanctuary seem to extend much farther. This is an early example of trompe-l'œil, and it is the detail that gives the church its special character.

The building belongs to the Italian Renaissance and was constructed from 1476 to 1482. Bramante and Giovanni Antonio Amadeo are associated with its design; Amadeo created the façade, while Bramante is responsible for the perspective in the sacristy. The church incorporates an early medieval shrine dedicated to Satyrus, the brother of Saint Ambrose, and takes its name from him.

Look at the painted choir and follow the receding architectural lines: they turn a shallow space into an imagined chapel. The church also has a nave, aisles, barrel vaults, and a hemispherical dome at the crossing. Its Romanesque bell tower belongs to the earlier building that stood here, while the baptistry is also from the fifteenth century. The result is a real church built around a remarkably convincing piece of painted architecture.