View of the façade

Annibale Fontana was the most distinguished Milanese sculptor in the third quarter of the sixteenth century, and his most distinguished sculptural complex was the façade of Santa Maria dei Miracoli presso San Celso. Designed by Galeazzo Alessi and completed in 1572, the façade made provision for a central relief over the main entrance, lateral reliefs over the two doorways at the sides, four figures in superimposed niche at the sides, and four small reliefs in the upper register, as well as for two sibyls on the pediment above the entrance and an Annunciation group above. Beside the lateral doorways were statues of Adam and Eve.

The first sculptor working on the façade was Stoldo di Gino Lorenzi, who delivered Adam in 1575. This statue is an elegant variation on the Adam carved by Bandinelli for the high altar of the Duomo in Florence. Completed three years later, the Annunciation is again redolent of Florentine academism. He also made the central relief of Nativity.

In 1582 Lorenzi returned to Tuscany, and the other parts of the façade were executed by Annibale Fontane.