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In 1509 Pope Julius II commissioned Donato Bramante to construct a rectangular structure within the basilica of Santa Maria to enclose the Santa Casa (Holy House).
The sculpture of the Holy House comprises in all twenty figures in niches and nine exceptionally large marble panels carved in a horizontal format in high relief depicting scenes from the Life of the Virgin.
Montelupo's first major commission was to assist in the execution of the marble decoration designed by Andrea Sansovino for the Santa Casa (1530–33) at Loreto, where he worked with Niccolò Tribolo, Francesco da Sangallo, Simone Mosca and others under the direction of Antonio da Sangallo the Elder. He carved the relief of the Adoration of the Magi, the left half of the Birth of the Virgin, the Visitation and some putti.
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