Chiesa di San Sigismondo

The Church of San Sigismondo near Cremona is known for its connection to the marriage of Bianca Maria Visconti and Francesco Sforza and for its sixteenth-century Mannerist frescoes. The church remains part of a Dominican monastery.

Why it matters

Bianca Maria Visconti and Francesco Sforza married here on 25 October 1441; Cremona formed part of her dowry. The present church was begun in 1463, and its decoration by Camillo Boccaccino and the Campi family in the 1530s and 1540s is regarded as an important Mannerist cycle in northern Italy.

What to notice

The frescoes developed over several campaigns. Camillo Boccaccino began work in 1535 with Christ in Glory in the apse and decoration of the presbytery vault. Giulio Campi joined in 1539, painting the high-altarpiece and transept; after Boccaccino’s death in 1545, Bernardino Campi continued the decoration, including a Paradise painted to suggest a dome. Bernardino Gatti painted the Ascension on the nave vault. The chapels contain works by Antonio Campi, Gervasio Gatti and other artists. The oak door dated 1536 bears the Visconti-Sforza arms. In the refectory, Tommaso Aleni’s Last Supper of 1508 reflects Leonardo’s influence.

Context and history

A chapel existed on the site by the late tenth century. The foundation stone of the present church was laid on 20 June 1463 in the presence of the ducal family; Bartolomeo Gadio is named in the ceremony, although his authorship of the complete design is debated. Work resumed in the 1490s with support from Ludovico il Moro. The façade was begun in 1492 and completed around 1510, along with the bell tower; the cloister dates to 1505. The church became a parish in 1774. Dominican nuns from Fontanellato arrived in 2007, returning the complex to monastic use.