Milan is home to the church and convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, which is affiliated with the Order of Preachers. The Last Supper, a mural by Leonardo da Vinci, adorns the walls of the convent's dining hall.

On the site of an earlier Saint Mary of the Graces chapel, Duke Francesco Sforza of Milan commissioned the building of a Dominican monastery and church in 1463.

The convent was designed by architect Guiniforte Solari and built between 1469 and 1482. Ludovico Sforza subsequently commissioned Donatto Bramante to make alterations to the cloister and apse of the church, and these were finished in 1490. Beatrice d'Este, Ludovico's wife, was buried there in 1497, making the church the official Sforza family cemetery.

There is no proof that Bramante designed the tiburio (a polygonal-based dome with a pyramid-shaped roof, used in Renaissance Lombardy), but his name does appear once in the church records, upon the receipt of a consignment of marble in 1494. In fact, modern scholarship agrees that Giovanni Antonio Amadeo is the author of the piece. Regardless, the Gothic architecture of the nave was partially retained in this dome, albeit with Romanesque and classical influences and on a more massive scale.

Gaudenzio Ferrari's stunning murals depicting the Passion of Christ in the earliest Gothic style section of the church's right chapel are a sight to behold. The Crowning of the Thorns, a painting by Titian now at the Louvre, once hung in the same chapel. Bramantino painted the painting that hangs over the sacristy's entrance; Bernardino Zenale and Bernardino Butinone contributed to the church's nave and other chapels.

The Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, commissioned Leonardo da Vinci to create a fresco of the Last Supper for the convent's refectory in 1494. The artist not only carefully planned his approach to the job, but also developed a novel painting method distinct from the more common buon fresco. The artwork, widely regarded as one of the greatest works of art ever created, was badly damaged due to these and other historical events. The church and convent were bombed by the Allies on the night of August 15th, 1943. The refectory was destroyed, but fortunately the wall with Leonardo's Last Supper on it was saved.

In 1980, Unesco added the complex to its list of World Heritage Sites.

Since June 22, 1993, the church at the convent has been recognized as a minor basilica.