Cain and Abel. Detail of the Sacristy

The sacristy was painted in 1508 by the Milanese Cesare Cesariano, famous for being the author of the vernacular translation of Vitruvius. The iconographic program includes grotesques and emblematic depictions of the theological and cardinal virtues in the nails of the vaults, folders and tondi with scenes from the Old Testament in the underlying arches, while the ceiling is painted with tondi depicting precious marbles, also allusive to the virtues. The style of the frescoes reveals the influence of the great Milanese artistic culture, Leonardo in particular. In the opinion of the critics it is one of the most beautiful sacristies in Italy. The two Parmesan painters, Luigi and Salvatore Marchesi, have reproduced it on canvases, which have remained famous. Between the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, an octagonal space was added to the sacristy, an ancient oratory of St. Colombano, frescoed in 1516 by Innocenzo Martini. On the back wall, there's a reliquary in gilded wood with small doors. The exterior, painted by Michelangelo Anselmi, represents St. John the Baptist and St. Sebastian. The interior paintings, by Martini, have been lost. The beautiful walnut wood paneling of the sacristy is the work of local artisans of the seventeenth century. In 1992 the sacristy was enriched with a work of contemporary art, a tribute by two Romanian artists: Varvara (painter) and Aldin (architect-decorator) Rashid. The icon depicting the Crucifixion, framed with embossed silver sheet, comes from the exhibition in the basilica of St. Maria in Montesanto in Rome, location of the "Mass of the Artists".