The Badia di Passignano, also called the ''Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo a Passignano'' is a historic

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey located atop a scenic hilltop, surrounded by cypresses, east of the town of

Tavarnelle Val di Pesa Tavarnelle Val di Pesa is a former ''comune'' (municipality) and since 2019 a ''frazione'' of Barberino Tavarnelle in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany. It is located about south of Florence. Sights The main attract ...

Province of Florence The province of Florence ( it, provincia di Firenze) was a province in the northeast of Tuscany region of Italy. The city or ''comune'' of Florence was both the capital of the Province of Florence, and of the Region of Tuscany. It had an area of ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The abbey complex is located about 2 kilometres east of the Siena-Florence autostrada. The settlement is also a

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

Barberino Tavarnelle Barberino Tavarnelle is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about south of Florence. History Barberino Tavarnelle was created on 1 January 2019 by merger of municipalities of Bar ...

History

Documents citing the abbey date to the 890s during the Lombard era. By the year 1049 when a prior hermitage was donated to

John Gualbert Giovanni Gualberto (c. 985 – 12 July 1073) was an Italian Roman Catholic abbot and the founder of the Vallumbrosan Order. Born into a noble family, Gualberto was a predictably vain individual who sought pleasure in vanities and romantic intri ...

, the founder of the Vallombrosan Order. The abbey became one of the major sites of the order and itself a wealthy landowner by the mid-14th century. Refurbished and altered over the centuries, in 1866 the monks were expelled and the site was sold to private owners, one of whom created some of the faux

crenellations A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

and towers. In the 20th century, the abbey was restored to a small monastic order. Outside of the cloistered abbey complex is the Romanesque 12th-century church of San Michele Arcangelo; the church has undergone numerous reconstructions. In the attached small hamlet of Passignano is the parish church of San Biagio, built in 1080. The abbey in the 19th-century housed a remarkable collection of over 6000 parchment manuscripts, many brought here by Grand-Duke Leopold. The abbey is known for a number of frescoes, created by artists over a number of centuries, including works by Filippo di Antonio Filippelli,

Benedetto Veli Benedetto Velli was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was born in Florence, and flourished in the 17th century. He painted an ''Ascension'' for the cathedral at Pistoia Pistoia (, is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region o ...

Alessandro Pieroni Alessandro Pieroni (18 April 1550 in Impruneta – 24 July 1607 in Livorno) was an Italian architect and painter. He was active mainly in a Mannerist style, working for the courts of Grandukes Francesco I and Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke ...

Alessandro Allori Alessandro di Cristofano di Lorenzo del Bronzino Allori (Florence, 31 May 153522 September 1607) was an Italian painter of the late Mannerist Florentine school. Biography In 1540, after the death of his father, Allori was brought up and trai ...

Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli (1450 - 1526) was an Italian painter active in his native Florence and the surrounding countryside. Bernardo was probably young teen when, along with his cousin, the more famous Cosimo Rosselli, he entered the worksho ...

Giuseppe Nicola Nasini Giuseppe Nicola Nasini (January 25, 1657– July 3, 1736) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Rome and Tuscany. Biography Born in Castel del Piano, now in the Province of Grosseto, Giuseppe was the son of the painter Frances ...

, and

Domenico Passignano Domenico Passignano (1559 – 17 May 1638), born Domenico Cresti or Crespi, was an Italian painter of a late-Renaissance or Counter-''Maniera'' (Counter-Mannerism) style that emerged in Florence towards the end of the 16th century. Biography ...

The refectory houses frescoes by

Domenico Ghirlandaio Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (, , ; 2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio, also spelled as Ghirlandajo, was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of ...

and his brother Davide. The frescoes have been much restored over the last century.Domenico Ghirlandaio: Artist and Artisan
by Jeanne K. Cadogan, Singapore (2000); page 202.

Gallery of Frescoes

Bernardo di stefano rosselli, cacciata dal paradiso terrestre, 1474, 01.jpg, ''Expulsion from Paradise'' by Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli Bernardo di stefano rosselli, caino e abele, 1474, 01.jpg, ''Cain and Abel'' by Bernardo di Stefano Roselli Abbazia di passignano, capitolo, annunciazione di filippo di antonio filippelli, 1483-85 ca. 02.JPG, ''Annunciation'' by Filippo di Antonio Filippelli Filippo di antonio filippelli, storie di san benedetto, 1483, 28,2 resurrezione di un fanciullo.jpg, ''Life of St Benedict'' by Filippo di Antonio Filippelli Chiesa abbaziale di s. michele a passignano, int., giuseppe nicola nasini, apostoli,1709, 02.JPG, From series of ''Apostles'' by Giuseppe Nicola Nasini Chiesa abbaziale di s. michele a passignano, int., cappella maggiore, apostoli del passignano 1601, 03.JPG, From series of ''Apostles'' by Passignano Alessandro allori, Ricognizione delle reliquie di San Giovanni Gualberto, 1581, 01.jpg, ''Recognition of the Relics of St Giovanni Gualberto'' by Allori Benedetto veli, morte di san atto, 1609, 01.jpg, ''Death of St

Atto of Pistoia Atto of Pistoia: ''Santo Atão''; c. 1070 – 22 May 1153) was a Catholic bishop and a professed member from the Vallumbrosan Order as well as the Bishop of Pistoia and a noted historiographer. Life Atto was born around 1070. Spanish historia ...

'' by Benedetto Veli Passignano veli.jpg, ''St Atto before Pope'' by Velli Ghirlandaio a passignano.jpg, ''Last Supper'' by Ghirlandaio Chiesa abbaziale di s. michele a passignano, int., cappella maggiore, volta del passignano 1601, 02.JPG, Dome frescoes by Passignano

References

{{Coord, 43.5773, 11.2475, display=title Monasteries in Tuscany Christian monasteries established in the 11th century Tavarnelle Val di Pesa Buildings and structures in Barberino Tavarnelle Passignano