Santa Maria presso San Satiro

This small Renaissance church a short walk from Milan cathedral is celebrated for an ingenious illusion. Constrained by a lack of space behind the altar, the architect Donato Bramante painted and modelled a false apse in shallow relief that appears, from the nave, to open into a deep coffered choir. The trick of perspective is convincing until visitors move close and see how little depth exists. An adjoining early medieval chapel and a delicate baptistery add to the interest of a church easily missed among the surrounding shops.