The Church of San Vittore in Meda, located in Piazza Vittorio Veneto, is a Renaissance jewel, often nicknamed the “Sistine Chapel of Brianza” for its extraordinary cycle of frescoes. Built starting in 1520 under the abbess Maria Cleofe Carcano and consecrated in 1536, it is part of the Villa Antona Traversi complex, once a female Benedictine monastery founded around 830 by the counts Aimo and Vermondo of Turbigo, according to a legend that tells of their salvation from a wild boar attack.

Exterior

The façade, built in 1730 in Lombard Baroque style, can be reached via a scenic eighteenth-century staircase. It is decorated with statues in Bergamo noble stone (pietra di Brembate) depicting San Vittore on horseback above the portal, the saints Aimo and Vermondo at the sides of the upper window, San Benedetto and San Mauro, as well as two angels holding a cross on the tympanum. The façade is enlivened by pilasters, mixtilinear frames and high reliefs, giving it an exuberant and harmonious appearance.

Interior

The interior, with a single nave with a barrel vault, is divided by a median wall that separates the public hall from the one originally reserved for the nuns (now partly transformed into the Chorus Hall and the Limonera). The church is entirely covered with a vast cycle of late Renaissance frescoes attributed to the school of Bernardino Luini (probably painted between 1520 and 1525), with contributions from artists such as Giovanni Lomazzo and the Campi brothers. The decoration, inspired by Leonardo, includes clipeate tondi with saints (Scolastica, Vittore, Adriano, Sebastiano, etc.) and ornamental motifs with grotesques, putti and vegetal patterns in grisaille. The dividing wall features portraits of Aimo and Vermondo in lozenges next to San Vittore, in central position.

The notable works:

• Altarpiece: made in 1626 by Giovan Battista Crespi (il Cerano), it depicts the risen Christ among the saints Scholastica, Paolo, Ambrogio, Carlo and Vittore, commissioned by the abbess Prassede Lodi for the translation of the bodies of Aimo and Vermondo.
• Lamentation over the Dead Christ: a 16th-century polychrome wooden sculpture group, with nine life-size statues, perhaps attributed to Andrea da Corbetta.
• Statue of the Madonna del Rosario: an 18th-century gilded wooden sculpture.
• Statue of San Carlo Borromeo: realized in 1630, with original clothers hand crafted in the laborerium of the monastery. Carlo Borromeo, as archibishop of Milan, visited the monastery in May 1581.

History and transformations

The church was part of an important Benedictine monastery, which exercised feudal rights over Meda, Cimnago, Olgelasca and Cabiate until 1200-1300. In 1798, with the Napoleonic suppression, the monastery was acquired by Giovanni Giuseppe Maunier and transformed into a neoclassical villa by the architect Leopoldo Pollack. The internal part of the church, reserved to nuns, was modified, with the creation of a mezzanine that divided the hall into two levels (Limonera and Sala del Coro), while the public part remained intact. Since 1836 it has belonged to the Antona Traversi family.

Accessibility

The church is open on the last Sunday of every month (from March to October: 10 am -12 am and 3 pm -6 pm; from November to February: 10 am -11 am and 3 pm -4 pm), with free guided tours organized by the Amici dell’Arte association. Respectful behavior is required and flash photography is prohibited.

Cultural significance

The Church of San Vittore is a symbol of the history of Meda, with a rich decoration that testifies to the influence of the Leonardo school and the prestige of the monastery, visited in 1194 by Emperor Henry VI and Constance of Altavilla. Its conservation and the restoration work begun in the 1980s make it a destination of great artistic and historical interest.