San Leonardo in Arcetri is a Romanesque-style,

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 ...

church located on Via di San Leonardo #25, a few hundred meters southeast of the Porta San Giorgio 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 ...

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 ...

History

A church at the site appears founded just after the year 1000, with a typical hemicircular apse. The facade is made from rustic stone bricks. In the late 19th-century, the church had much of the baroque accretions removed, reverting the interior to reveal the sparse Romanesque elements. The facade has a round oculus in the tympanum. The interior houses a 13th-century

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

, formerly in the church of San Pier Scheraggio, and transferred here in 1782. That church was demolished during the construction of the

Uffizi 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 ...

. The square elevated pulpit has delicately carved bas-relief square marble panels, depicting various biblical scenes: * ''Adoration of the Magi'' * ''Madonna and child'' * ''Evangelists and the Dream of the Virgin'' * ''Baptism of Christ'' * ''Presentation of Christ at the Temple'' * ''Nativity of Christ'' * ''Deposition from the Cross'' The main altarpiece presently is a 15th-century triptych by

Lorenzo di Niccolò Lorenzo di Niccolò or Lorenzo di Niccolò di Martino was an Italian painter who was active in Florence from 1391 to 1412. This early Renaissance artist worked in the Trecento style, and his work maintains influences of the Gothic style, marking a ...

, depicting an ''Enthroned Madonna and Child'' flanked by depictions of Saints Anthony Abbot, Leonard, James the Apostle, and Lawrence. Another altarpiece depicts ''Archangel Raphael with Tobias, St Leonard, and St Sebastian'' (circa 1478) by followers of

Neri di Bicci Neri di Bicci (1419–1491) was an Italian painter active in his native Florence. A prolific painter of mainly religious themes, he studied under his father, Bicci di Lorenzo, who had in turn studied under his father, Lorenzo di Bicci. The thre ...

. Two altarpieces are attributed to Neri di Bicci: including a ''Madonna of the Assumption grants a belt to St Thomas, flanked by Saints Peter, Jerome, Francis, and John the Baptist''.

Cosimo Ulivelli Cosimo Ulivelli (1625–1705) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most pop ...

painted some frescoes in the apse.I dintorni di Firenze: Sulla sinistra dell'Arno I dintorni di Firenze: Sulla sinistra dell'Arno
by Guido Carocci, Florence (1907): pages 223-224.

Dante 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: '' ...

and

Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian people, Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so we ...

are said to have preached from the pulpit. The church stands among olive groves on the Via San Leonardo, a country road on the southern outskirts of Florence, next to Villa Spelman, seat of the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

Charles S. Singleton Center for Italian Studies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonardo In Arcetri Florence Leonardo in Arcetri 11th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Romanesque architecture in Florence