San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore, Milan

San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore is a church whose interior is almost entirely covered by Renaissance frescoes. It began as part of a Benedictine convent for women, and the former monastery now houses Milan’s Civic Archaeological Museum. The existing church was begun in 1503, designed by Gian Giacomo Dolcebuono with Giovanni Antonio Amadeo and completed by Cristoforo Solari.

Notice the division across the nave: worshippers and nuns occupied separate spaces, with the nuns following the service through a grating. That arrangement is still legible in the architecture. On the dividing wall, Bernardino Luini painted scenes from the life of Saint Maurice, beside an Adoration of the Magi by Antonio Campi.

The surrounding chapels carry further work by Aurelio Luini and his brothers, while the counterfaçade bears a fresco by Simone Peterzano from 1573. In the hall reserved for the nuns, painted decoration continues across the walls and vault, including a starry sky with God, the Evangelists, and angels. The choir loft contains a mechanical organ made by Giovan Giacomo Antegnati in 1554. Today the church also serves as a concert hall and hosts Byzantine-rite worship in Greek according to the Italo-Albanian tradition.