The church of San Barnaba is a small

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

-style church in the center of

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 ...

, at the corner of Via Panicale and Via Guelfa

Description

Initially built in the 14th century by the Chapter of St Lawrence, in memory of the June 11, 1289 victory at the Battle of Campaldino of the

Guelphs The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rival ...

from Florence over

Ghibelline The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rival ...

opponents from

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...

. The poet,

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

is said to have fought with the Guelph cavalry. After 1356, the church was affiliated with the

Augustinian order Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

, housed in an adjacent convent. In the 16th century, the complex was granted to a

Carmelite order , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Ca ...

, and the underwent rebuilding of the church, including the elaborate gilded wooden ceiling, completed in 1717 by Giovanni Vernaccini. The convent was suppressed and converted into apartments. The church is part of the parish of San Lorenzo. The rather plain façade has heraldic symbols of a red cross, eagle defeating a dragon, and the Florentine giglio (stylized iris), which are the symbols respectively of the people of Florence, the guelphs, and the city of Florence. The portal has a

Giovanni Della Robbia image:Saint Sebastian Della Robbia Louvre InvML96.jpg, 250px, ''Saint Sebastian'', Musée du Louvre, Paris. Giovanni della Robbia (1469–1529) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, mostly in ceramics. Biography Giovanni della Robbia was the son o ...

''Madonna'' made of terracota (1528-1529).Raccolta di notizie storiche riguardanti le chiese dell'arcidiogesi di Firenze.] By Luigi Santoni (1847), page 46-47. The church contains paintings by Pier Francesco Foschi,

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 train ...

, and

Lorenzo di Bicci Lorenzo di Bicci ( 1350 – 1427) was an Italian painter of the Florentine School considered to be one of the most important painters in Florence during the second half of the 14th century. He is believed to have learned his trade from his fathe ...

. An altarpiece of the ''Enthroned Madonna with Saints and Angels'', known as the ''San Barnaba Altarpiece'', circa 1487 by

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian Renaissance painting, Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th cent ...

, is now housed in the

Uffizi Gallery The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnaba San Roman Catholic churches in Florence 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Renaissance architecture in Florence