The forgotten architect of Santa Maria di Macereto sanctuary

The Santuario di Santa Maria di Macereto, a Renaissance jewel in the Marche region of Italy, was designed by the little-known architect Giovanni Battista da Lugano. The sanctuary, located on a remote plateau at 1,000 meters in the Sibillini mountains near Visso, was built starting in 1528 around a 14th-century chapel marking a miracle site from August 12, 1359. The project was originally attributed to Donato Bramante in 1505. Giovanni Battista, a member of the "magistri comacini" from Lombardy, likely worked on the Ottoni and Piersanti palaces in Matelica before being called to Macereto. He clad the octagonal structure in travertine using funds from pilgrims and local lords. The interior features a Greek cross plan, a 14th-century aedicule revetted in stone by Pietro Casella in 1590, and frescoes by Simone de Magistris from 1582. Giovanni Battista died in 1539 after falling from scaffolding, leaving the sanctuary unfinished. Work resumed in 1553 under Filippo Salvi, who had worked with Bramante on Santa Maria della Consolazione in Todi, but halted in 1556 due to ground instability preventing completion of the bell tower.