posted on 2017-07-03, 00:00authored byG. Massiot & cie
The portal is carved Botticino white marble and red marble of Verona, from a church north of the city demolished in 1517 and moved here. It dates from 1490 and was originally donated by Matteo Leoni, a soldier of fortune.\u000a\u000aOriginally part of a Hieronymite monastery. In 1522 a new church was constructed, designed by one of the brothers, Ludovico Barcella, consecrated in 1539. This new place of worship becomes the main church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, while the former church of Santa Maria Palazzolo becomes an attached shrine. In 1668 the suppression of the order of the Hieronymites, decreed by Pope Clement IX, leads to the installation of the Jesuits, who acquire the cloisters adjoining the church, establishing a school. The monastery was abolished in 1797 but the church remains open. The interior is highly decorated and Baroque. The portal and doors were reused from a demolished church and date from 1490.