It is the architect of Milan Cathedral, Gerolamo Quadrio, who designed the three sacristies kept in the Basilica of San Martino.
Rare craftsmanship and expressive power characterize all the rooms: entering the first directly from the church you will be immediately overwhelmed by a cascade of eighteenth-century stucco and frescoes, dense and redundant decoration, and inlays and sculptures by the Fantoni and Caniana families, two great families of artists of the time.
The themes of the ornamental motifs are many: from Gospel episodes and stories from the New and Old Testaments, to cherubs, masks, plant decorations such as intertwined branches fruits and leaves, and idyllic landscapes.
The time you spend admiring them will certainly not be wasted!
On a plaque placed at the entrance to the second sacristy stands the inscription “SACRA DECENT SACROS, SACRIS PENETRALIA PANDO SACRUM NON SACER HAUT TENTET INIRE LOCUM” (“Sacred places agree with sacred people. To those who are sacred I disclose the reserved place. He who is not sacred dare not enter the sacred place.”).
In fact, the room was intended only for priests: the phrase, however, also sounds like a general exhortation to purify oneself of sins before accessing places of such beauty as to seem divine.
Are you ready?
The floor plan of the sacristies is in an “inverted L” shape: the first sacristy opens on the short side, the second one is located at the junction point between the two segments, and the third one runs along the long side and then connects with the Museum of Sacred Art.
The decorations and furnishings of the three sacristies were completed in just over fifteen years, but the stylistic suggestions of the three rooms appear very different, testifying to the alternation of two artistic and historical epochs: from Baroque emphasis to Rococo secularity.
The first sacristy is rectangular-your eye will be drawn to the three niches that divide the walls and house six large built-in cabinets finely crafted by Fantoni.
In the second sacristy, on the other hand, you will be struck by the dense inlay of kneelers and chests for laying down the priests’ garments.
Finally, the third vestry houses a chest with backrest that is repeated no less than forty times-try counting!