Santuario di Santa Maria delle Grazie

Santa Maria delle Grazie in Sansepolcro is a Marian sanctuary founded through a burial confraternity. Its portal, carved ceiling and devotional painting connect religious care for the dead with the artistic life of the Renaissance town.

Why it matters

The Compagnia della Morte combined Marian devotion with the duty of providing Christian burial. Its church and adjoining oratory gave that communal responsibility an architectural setting.

What to notice

Alberto Alberti designed the stone portal of 1563 and the frame for Raffaellino del Colle's Madonna delle Grazie. The 1555 painting depicts the Virgin kneeling in prayer with angels. The coffered ceiling combines Marian and confraternal emblems. Paintings in the adjoining oratory are associated with the Alberti family and Raffaello Schiaminossi.

Context and history

The confraternity was founded on 1 May 1518, and land supplied by the Arte della Lana supported the building project. Later commissions furnished the church and oratory over several generations. Restoration in 1899 involved Giuseppe Castellucci. Bishop Pompeo Ghezzi consecrated the church in 1931, adding another stage to a history shaped by devotion, charitable duty and successive artistic work.