Pellegrini chapel, Renaissance chapel in the San Bernardino complex, Verona, Italy

The Pellegrini Chapel stands inside the Franciscan San Bernardino complex in Verona, a domed chapel begun in 1528 to Michele Sanmicheli's design. Its interior is organised around a central circular space covered by a dome, and the walls combine stone and stucco decoration added in the 1793 restoration by Bartolomeo Giuliari.

A member of the nobility commissioned architect Michele Sanmicheli in 1528 to build this structure as a memorial for a deceased family member. Construction work continued over several decades until 1559.

The chapel was originally dedicated to St. Anne, chosen by Margherita Pellegrini after the death of her 18-year-old son Niccolò in 1528. Its design draws on Roman monuments of Verona, such as Porta Borsari and the Gavi Arch, as well as the Pantheon in Rome. The Marastoni stonemasons used less noble materials and simplified the decoration, leaving bare walls and unfluted columns.

The chapel stands inside the Franciscan complex of San Bernardino, entered from the Gothic church and its cloisters. The building was left unfinished at the patron's death in 1557 and completed only in 1559, so expect a monument rather than a parish room. Look for the balcony with balustrade where the Marastoni took over from Sanmicheli's workshop.

The chapel was meant to hold the remains of Margherita Pellegrini and her family, yet the sources record no burial there; the monument instead outlived the Raimondi-Pellegrini line, which ended with her son Niccolò in 1528. Look for the 1793 restoration by Bartolomeo Giuliari, who added stone and stucco decoration to bring the Marastoni-built upper section closer to Sanmicheli's design.