Lugano, Switzerland

Side Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria degli Angioli - Lugano

Located on the lakeside promenade of Lugano, the church of Santa Maria degli Angioli hosts an early Renaissance masterpiece, reputed as being the most famous fresco of that period in Switzerland. The work is a portrayal of the ‘Passion and Crucifixion’ by Italian artist Bernardino Luini (1480 - 1532), a disciple of Leonardo. The large, lively fresco covers most of the wall with many faces and figures: more than 150 in all, including soldiers on horseback and a throng of people.

The church of Santa Maria degli Angioli, built between1499 and 1500, was once part of the monastery of the Order of Franciscan Friars (Friars Minor) founded in 1490, which starting from 1602 became the Order of Reformed Friars Minor of the province of Milan. Although its sober facade facing over the lake is not as rich as that of the cathedral of San Lorenzo, the church houses one of the great, early Renaissance masterpieces: the fresco of the ‘Passion and Crucifixion’ by Bernardino Luini, a disciple of Leonardo, who initiated his career at the Abbey of Chiaravalle.

http://www.ticinotopten.ch/en/monuments/church-santa-maria-degli-angioli-lugano