Giovanni Battista della Rovere in Santa Maria delle Grazie a Milano

The Dominican church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan houses an important fresco cycle in the Marliani family chapel, which was previously ascribed to artists such as Ottavio Semino, Aurelio Luini and Francesco Nappi. Now that a set of newly rediscovered mural paintings in Selvanesco have been attributed to Giovanni Battista Della Rovere, called Fiammenghino (1561-1627), it is possible to recognize the same hand in the Santa Maria delle Grazie frescoes. Parallels may also be drawn with some documented works of the artist in Monza and in Sant’Angelo church in Milan. The essay also explores the complexity of the iconographic meaning of the cycle, which seems to recall the prophetic visions of the Apocalypsis Nova, published by the circle of Amedeo Mendes de Silva in the early 15th century.