16th century AD

Giulio's sympathies toward medieval architecture, amply demonstrated in his later designs for the Basilica of Vicenza and S. Petronio in Bologna, are also in evidence at Polirone. [155] The architect preserved most of the medieval church intact, encasing it in a Renaissance ornament of stucco and paint (Figs. 3, 4). While he modernized the nave with an innovative serliana arcade, he retained the medieval plan of ambulatory and radiating chapels in the east end (Figs. 5, 14). This area of the church, modeled after Cluny III, was probably added initially during the time of Matilda, who had placed Polirone under the administration and reform of Cluny in 1077. [156] The five Romanesque chapels were enlarged by Giulio, who also incorporated modern window niches.

On the exterior, Giulio's Bramantesque stucco revetment left exposed the earlier fabric of Polirone's tiburic or crossing tower and upper nave walls (Figs. 3, 18). The Late Gothic frieze below the roof ends abruptly at the westernmost bay, a new addition with Renaissance moldings (Fig. 19). Benedetto Luchino--who professed at Polirone in 1539 and thus witnessed Giulio's renovation--later identified these areas, that is, the tribune and central nave of the main basilica, along with the oratory and campanile of S. Maria as the still extant parts of the original church that preserved "the happy memories" of Tedaldo and Matilda. [157] Indeed, the frieze of small trefoil arches along Polirone's nave wall may well have recalled the Romanesque Lombard corbel tables typical of "Matilda's churches" (Figs. 16, 17). [158] Still clearly visible from the public piazza (Figs. 3, 18), they serve as a reminder of the monastery's venerable foundation.

Luchino's discussion of Polirone's Renaissance church, the first to postdate Giulio's renovation, proclaims Lucrezia as its sponsor:

In 1500, the most illustrious Signora Lucrezia Pico della Mirandola, daughter of the deceased lord Giovanni Francesco and wife of Count Gherardo d'Aragona d'Oppiano, to direct the affairs of her soul to the harbor of salvation, arranged to leave the carte of Segnate to the monastery of San Benedetto.... In addition to the corte of Segnate, she bequeathed all her possessions, movable and immovable, to the monastery of S. Benedetto with this condition, that a completely new church be built or in whatever better way it could be easily accommodated. And besides this, that every year her anniversary be celebrated with solemnities for her soul and that of her ancestors; and that a goodly donation be dispensed four times a year for the greater suffrage of her soul as it is customary to do for the most illustrious Countess Matilda. The intent of the Signora testatrix was carried out with the creation of a model and foundations for the church, but because of wars and notable hindrances of the rivers which flooded the monastery, the construction was dormant for a little less than forty years. Realizing this, the relatives of the Signora [Lucrezia] wanted to bring suit against the monastery and vigorously pressed the case in Rome. The Reverend Abbot Cortese was advised of the situation by his brother Giacomo in Rome, and immediately began construction. And to better and more quickly set the work toward the desired end, he hired the most excellent architect Giulio Romano and, in his company, Battista Mantovano, of very great experience, and thus our church had a most felicitous beginning in the year 1539 and was finished in slightly more than five years. (App., Doc. 4)