San Satiro, or more correctly Santa Maria in San Satiro, embodies the architectural concepts of the great architect Donato Bramante. Few traces are left of the original building built by Bishop Ansperto in the 9^th century; in 1478 Bramante was commissioned whit rebuilding and enlarging the church. Bramante used a single aisle, T-shaped plan, but whit an exceptionally large nave and transepts whose grandeur extends right up to the semi-circular dome. Using a clever perspective device, i.e. a painted archway and stucco decoration on the rear wall, Bramante gives the interior the appearance of a Greek cross; the presbytery is actually only an optical illusion. A similar spatial feeling is achieved in the adjoining Sacristy, inspired by the Romanesque baptisteries, in which the play of light and form is achieved by the recessing of the niches below and the galleries above. But each element has another strength and value. The pure lines of the Romanesque baptistery develop into a play of perfectly defined and circumscribed shapes.