Museo della Basilica di Sant’Eustorgio

The Museum of the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio, which together with the basilica of Sant'Eustorgio and the Museo Diocesano Carlo Maria Martini is part of the Chiostri di Sant'Eustorgio complex, is composed of important monumental and historical-artistic testimonies that are very different from each other but of fundamental importance in the Milanese context, starting with the Paleochristian Cemetery, located under the nave of the church, where the remains of a late antique necropolis were discovered between 1959 and 1962. Also part of the Museum are the two monumental rooms of the Chapter House and the Monumental Sacristy, through which one enters the Portinari Chapel. The latter, a masterpiece of Lombard Renaissance architecture, was built between about 1462 and 1468 on commission by Pigello Portinari and constitutes a fundamental testimony to the beginnings of a Renaissance language of Tuscan origin grafted onto Lombard culture. Of great importance is the rich plastic decoration, mainly in terracotta, which dialogues with the splendid frescoes by Vincenzo Foppa dedicated to the stories of Saint Peter Martyr. In the centre of the chapel is the Ark of St Peter Martyr, an extraordinary example of Gothic sculpture, created by Giovanni di Balduccio between 1336 and 1339.