The Santuario di Santa Maria di Piazza (also known as the shrine of the Blessed Virgin of Help) is located in the historic center of Busto Arsizio, where an earlier church dedicated to the Virgin Mary stood, which in turn had replaced a chapel dating back to the time of Christianization. This Marian shrine was quickly built between 1515 and 1522.
Two names appear in the documents dealing with the construction of the temple: that of Antonio da Lonate (author of the model for the Vigevano Duomo) and that of "magistro Tomaxio ingeniero", probably Tommaso Rodari, the well-known sculptor and architect active in the Como cathedral, a pupil of Giovanni Antonio Amadeo. Antonio da Lonate set the central plan, for which a Bramantesque design, "Bramanti secutus exemplar" has been speculated; the latter would have executed the two portals to the west and south, and perhaps the elegant loggia in the tambour under the dome similar to the tiburium of the sanctuary of the Beata Vergine dei Miracoli at Saronno, which is attributed to Amadeo.
History
The ancient building, according to seventeenth-century testimonies, had a square plan of 5 m on each side, but it was already probably a fourteenth-century remake of the original building. The church, in its typical forms of Romanesque architecture, was consecrated in 1346 by a bishop named Francesco, delegate of the archbishop Giovanni Visconti. All that remains today of this ancient building is the stone rondel placed at the top of the present presbytery and depicting in a relief the Madonna and Child.
Here in 1358 a chaplaincy was established by Antonio Crespi: thus masses were celebrated every day by a priest chosen by the Crespi family. This chaplaincy took the name of Saint Catherine, and an altar was named after the saint. Another chaplaincy, named Santa Maria, was established in 1485 by Donato Crespi. To this second chaplaincy in 1504 the curia of Milan assigned the priest Francesco Crespi Roberti (or de Robertis), who later became rector of the basilica di San Giovanni Battista.
In the Libro della Decima (a text that listed private entities that owned real estate subject to taxation) of 1399, the Consorzio di Santa Maria di Piazza appears for the first time. This, like the other eight consortiums in Busto Arsizio, had its headquarters in a church (in this case that of Santa Maria) and members met periodically bringing an offering; these offerings would then be given to members in need, to charity for the poor or to aid churches.
Between the 14th century and the 16th century, the town of Busto Arsizio grew in wealth, size and influence within the Duchy of Milan. This led to the desire to erect a new religious building to match this rise. The first stone of this new church, which replaced the Romanesque one of Santa Maria, on laid in 1517 and is still visible embedded in the eastern facade. A number of people, mainly from the more educated part of the Bustoccan population, promoted this rebuilding: among them, the rectors of the basilica and founders of the capitular library of St. John the Baptist Francesco and Bernardino Crespi, the former of whom was also chaplain of St. Mary's; the Scuola dei Poveri; and the municipality. It is likely, though not established, that Galeazzo Visconti, feudatory of Busto since 1488, supported the initiative. There were also many bequests from the clergy and civilian population, particularly dating back to 1524, the year in which the village was hit by an epidemic of plague.
The reconstruction of the church was entrusted to Antonio da Lonate who, as reported by the chronicler Antonio Crespi Castoldi, followed a bramantesco design. I following subsequent studies and research carried out by Pio Bondioli, it can be said that Antonio da Lonate was responsible for the design of the basic wall structure, while the completion and embellishments were the work of Tommaso Rodari. Presenting typical features of Rodari's work are the portals of the south and west facades.
