The Oratorio dei Vanchetoni or Oratory of the Vanchetoni is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

prayer hall for the ''Arch-confraternity of San Francesco'', in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, region of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, Italy.

History

The society was founded by Ippolito Galantini (1565-1619), and had the purpose of educating poor children on the

Christian doctrine Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, ...

. The members of the company were called ''vanchetoni'', for their habit of walking quietly, and ''bacchettoni'', in reference to the used baton for penitential self-scourging. The confraternity building was designed by

Matteo Matteo is the Italian form of the given name Matthew. Another form is Mattia. The Hebrew meaning of Matteo is "gift of god". Matteo can also be used as a patronymic surname, often in the forms of de Matteo, De Matteo or DeMatteo, meaning " escen ...

and

Giovanni Nigetti Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

in 1602–1604, and built in land once the orchard of the

Church of Ognissanti The chiesa di San Salvatore di Ognissanti or more simply chiesa di Ognissanti (; "Church of All Saints"), is a Franciscan church located on the piazza of the same name in central Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. Founded by the lay order of th ...

. The long hall where the ''confratelli'' gathered, was frescoed between 1633 and 1649 by ''quadri riportati'' of saints by

Giovanni Martinelli Giovanni Martinelli (22 October 1885 – 2 February 1969) was an Italian operatic tenor. He was associated with the Italian lyric-dramatic repertory, although he performed French operatic roles to great acclaim as well. Martinelli was one of t ...

, Domenico Pugliani,

Baldassare Franceschini Baldassare Franceschini, called Il Volterrano after his birth place Volterra and, to distinguish him from Ricciarelli, Il Volterrano Giuniore (16116 January 1689) was an Italian late Baroque painter and draughtsman active principally around Flo ...

il Volterrano,

Cecco Bravo Cecco Bravo (15 November 1601 – 1661) was an Italian painter of the Florentine Baroque school. His true name is Francesco Montelatici. Biography He trained with Giovanni Biliverti and was also close to Sigismondo Coccapani. In the early 16 ...

and

Lorenzo Lippi Lorenzo Lippi (3 May 1606 – 15 April 1665) was an Italian painter and poet. Biography Born in Florence, he studied painting under Matteo Rosselli. Both Baldassare Franceschini and Francesco Furini were also apprenticed with Rosselli, th ...

. Galantini was posthumously made venerable in 1765, and beatified in 1825. Today, the oratory is used for chamber concerts and small meetings.

External links

Photos of Oratorio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oratorio Dei Vanchetoni Roman Catholic churches in Florence Baroque architecture in Florence 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy