Lodi, Santuario dell'Incoronata - Tempio Civico

Built in 1488 from a design by Giovanni Battagio, the Santuario della Incoronata is the most prestigious and best-known monument of the city. The denomination of “Tempio Civico” indicates that it is managed by lay institutions: first by a “school” of noble decurions of the city, then by the Monte di Pietà and finally by the Commune. Apart from being a particularly significant example of the Lombard Renaissance, it is also important for housing important decorative cycles by the artists Giovanni and Matteo Della Chiesa, by Bergognone, by the Piazzas, the dynasty of Lodi painters from the early 16th century, and by Legnanino.
The church occupies the area of a former bordello, where a fresco has been made with the image of a Madonna. According to tradition, after certain miracles which took place in 1487, the ecclesiastical authorities and the citizenry decided to build the church to commemorate the wonderful events.
The design by the architect Battagio, to an octagonal plan with radial chapels (octaves) separated by freely scattered pilasters, two aisles and a portico, represents something uniquein the Lombard environment of the time. The octagonal plan, so rich in doctrinal and historical references, here connects architectural ideas from Bramante in San Satiro (choir and sacresty) to the complex of ideologies relating to the cult of the Madonna.
The temple, standing centrally, appears from the outside as an octagonal drum around which runs a balustrade with a colonnade and pinnacles. In the interior, in the higher order there is a matroneo balcony with small arches supported by blue and gold columns. The cupola is of umbrella type and is illuminated by light from round windows.
Other important items are the wooden choir by Carlo Antonio Lanzani and the organ from 1507 by Lorenzo da Lucca with wooden cornice inlaid and gilded by Daniele and Leonardo Gambarino.