The Jesuit Order’s base in Milan will be forever linked with the figure of Charles Borromeo and his favourite architect Pellegrino Tibaldi, who designed the building and oversaw its construction between 1569 and 1586. This monumental church is a fine example of Counter-Reformation architecture. Of the altars, particularly noteworthy is the extraordinary sculptural composition incorporating Lucio Fontana’s relief of the The Sacred Heart, surely one of the finest examples of 20th-century religious art in Milan, as well as the splendid Via Crucis by the same artist exhibited in the crypt. Equally splendid are the sacristy, and the “ballet dancer’s chappel”. From 2014 the church hosts a museum itinerary, in which contemporary works by De Maria, Paladino, Simpson, Kounellis, Parmiggiani, among others, develop an itinerary between art and faith. Also noteworthy is the Private Collection of the Milanese artist Nanda Vigo, kept in the three rooms next to the crypt, with works by Warhol, Manzoni, Fontana, Christo and many other Italian and international 20th century artists.
