San Sebastiano (Mantua)

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San Sebastiano, in Mantua, begun in 1460 according to the designs of Leon Battista Alberti was left partially completed in the mid 1470s, by which time construction had slowed and was no longer being directed by Alberti. As a consequence, little remains of Alberti’s work apart from the plan, which is considered one of the earliest and most significant examples of Renaissance centrally-planned churches. The plan is in the shape of a Greek cross, but open and without any interior partitions. The church sits on a ground level crypt which was intended to serve as a mausoleum for the Gonzaga family.^[1]

The two outer staircases were added in the nineteenth century, and indeed much of the façade and wall treatment cannot be attributed to Alberti.

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