Built between 1481-90 on the narrow Campo dei Miracoli, Santa Maria dei Miracoli is one of the first and most successful Renaissance churches in Venice. It was built by a single family workshop of artists acting together during a relatively short period of time. This fact lends the church a harmony of style that is almost unique in Venice. Pietro, Tullio, and Antonio Lombardo were the three principal artists at work here. At this point they were not known as architects. They were craftsmen; masons, carvers, builders, etc., but not architects.

Architecture as a separate discipline emerged only in the Renaissance. In Venice, this Renaissance began with the designs of the Lombardos and with Mauro Codussi. An unnamed builder designed a plain rectangular single-story building that would be sheathed in marble. The Lombardos were commissioned to erect the building, and do some carving decoration. Each family member had exceptional skills in the area of carving or gilding, and they were assisted by an able workshop.

Miracoli was built was built as a votive chapel to house a miracle-working image of the Virgin and Child that hung outdoors on a nearby street corner. In Venice, the state generally paid for the construction of churches; however, the impetus and the funds for the construction of the Miracoli came from local citizens and devotees of the miraculous image. By the end of 1484, the available funds far exceeded the costs of construction; thus the procurators decided to expand upon the existing plan. The revised plan called for the addition of a chancel and for the construction of a convent along the side of the church. The structure, initially intended as a shrine, was transformed into a monastic institution.