| Church
of Santa Maria Novella
Address: Piazza Santa Maria Novella
The white and green marble Gothic-Romanesque facade was completed
by Leon Battista Alberti who designed the upper part. Inside
the church there are splendid masterpieces including "The
Trinity" by Masaccio, frescoes by Filippino Lippi and
Ghirlandaio in the Tornabuoni chapel, a Crucifix by Giotto
and a wooden Crucifix by Brunelleschi.
The Museo di Santa Maria Novella is adjacent to the church.
Here you can admire the splendid Green Cloister frescoed by
Paolo Uccello and his school.
In the Chapter Room, known as the "Cappellone degli Spagnoli"
is a famous fresco by Bonaiuto. Just a short distance from
the church is the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria
Novella, where perfumes, soaps and fragrances are made and
sold in a Neogothic setting.
The Dominican friars, Sisto da Firenze
and Ristoro da Campi, began to build the church in 1246 on
the site of the l0th-century Dominican oratory of S. Maria
delle Vigne. The nave and aisles went up in 1279 and the building
was finished in the middle of the 14th century with the campanile
and the Sacristy by Jacopo Talenti. The marvelous facade was
remodelled between 1456 and 1470 by Leon Battista Alberti
(the original facade was early 14th century) who created the
splendid portal and everything above it, articulated in inlaid
squares and bordered by the heraldic sails of the Rucellai
family who commissioned the work. Two large reversed volutes
tie the lateral masses together with those in the center,
articulated by four engaged pilasters and terminating in a
triangular pediment.
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to enlarge this photo
INTERIOR
The interior is divided into a nave and two aisles by compound
piers with pointed arches, and 16th-century renovation.
The church houses numerous works from the 14th to the 16th
centuries. Of particular note are the Monument to the Beata
Villana by Rossellino (1451); the Bust of St. Antoninus (in
terra cotta) and the Tomb of the Bishop of Fiesole by Tino
da Camaino; Ghiberti's lovely tombstone for Leonardo Dati
(1423); the Tomb of Filippo Strozzi by Benedetto da Maiano
(1491); Vasari's Madonna of the Rosary (1568); the Miracle
of Jesus by Bronzino. Be sure to stop for a while in the Cappella
Maggiore (or Tornabuoni Chapel), with a fine bronze Crucifix
by Giambologna on the altar and frescoes with the Stories
of St. John the Baptist and Stories of the Madonna by Domenico
Ghirlandaio, late 15th cent.; the Gondi Chapel, by Giuliano
da Sangallo, with fragments of frescoes by 13th-century Greek
painters on the vault and Brunelleschi's famous Crucifix on
the back wall; the Cappella Strozzi di Mantova, with frescoes
of the Last Judgement on the back wall, Hell on the right
wall and Paradise on the left, by Nardo di Cione or Orcagna.
The gate to the left of the facade leads to the First Cloister,
in Romanesque style (1350) frescoed with Scenes from the Old
Testament by Paolo Uccello (now in the Refectory). From here,
through the Chiostrino dei Morti, one arrives at the Chiostro
Grande, with more than fifty arches and completely lined with
frescoes by Florentine masters of the 15th and 16th centuries
(generally not open to the public since it is now used by
the armed forces).
Nino Pisano (Pisa, XIV secolo - 1368) Madonna
Marble, detail height cm 110. Placed over the tomb of Fra'
Cavalcanti in the church of Santa Maria Novella in the last
century.
Brunelleschi Filippo (Firenze 1377 - 1446) Crocifisso
Painted wood, height cm 160. Last piece of sculpture by
the artist who then dedicated his work to architecture.
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