San Frediano in Cestello is a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

-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 let ...

church in the Oltrarno section 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 ...

, region of

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, Italy. The name ''cestello'' derives from the

Cistercians The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

who occupied the church in 1628. Previously the site had a 1450s church attached to the cloistered

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

convent of ''Santa Maria degli Angeli''.

History

The church is dedicated to St

Fridianus Fridianus ( it, San Frediano, also Frigidanus, Frigidian, Frigianu), was an Irish prince and hermit, fl. 6th century. Tradition names him as a son of King Ultach of Ulster. He later migrated to Italy, where he was appointed as Bishop of Lucca. Th ...

, an early Christian Irish pilgrim who became bishop of

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one ...

; putatively he miraculously crossed a swollen Arno river near this spot. A church at the site was present before the 11th century. Starting during the papacy of Paul II in the 1460s, the church and adjacent convent were patronized by the Soderini Family. This continued under Cardinal Francesco Soderini. The church suffered under the flood of 1557; the monks had to move to the nearby monastery of the

Carmine Carmine ()also called cochineal (when it is extracted from the cochineal insect), cochineal extract, crimson lake, or carmine lake is a pigment of a bright-red color obtained from the aluminium complex derived from carminic acid. Specific code ...

.Follini and Rastrelli, pages 114. In 1680–1689, the church was rebuilt on the designs of

Gherardo Silvani Gherardo Silvani (1579–1675) was an Italian architect and sculptor, active mainly in Florence and other sites in Tuscany during the Baroque period. Biography His son Pierfrancesco also became an architect. He worked on the Palazzo Corsini ...

and Giulio Cerutti. The imposing cupola and bell tower added in 1689 by

Antonio Maria Ferri Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

. In the former convent of the site lived and died Saint Magdalena de Pazzi (1566–1607), born to a noble Florentine family. She was renowned for her ecstasies, during which she had visions of the divine will favoring church reforms. She was canonised in 1662. Her body was transferred to the church in central Florence that bears her name. The interior of the dome is frescoed with a ''Glory of the Magdalen and Virtue'' (1702–1718) by Antonio Domenico Gabbiani. The cloisters contain a statue of ''St Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi'' (1726) by Antonio Montauti and a ''St. Bernard of Clairvaux defeats the devil'' (1702) by Giuseppe Piamontini (1702). The latter cloister was designed by Gherardo and Pier Francesco Silvani. The refectory has a ''Last supper'' and a painting by

Bernardino Poccetti Bernardino Poccetti (26 August 1548 – 10 October 1612), also known as Barbatelli, was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker of etchings. Biography Born in Florence, he was initially trained as a decorator of facades and ceilings, enroll ...

. In the transept is a ''Madonna in glory with saints'' by

Francesco Curradi Francesco Curradi or Currado (15 November 1570 – 1661) was an Italian painter of the style described as Counter-''Maniera'' or Counter-Mannerism, born and active in Florence. Biography Curradi was the son of a jeweller, Taddeo. He trained unde ...

and a painting of a ''Crucifixion with saints'' and ''Martyrdom of St. Lawrence'' (late 15th century) by

Jacopo del Sellaio Jacopo del Sellaio (1441/42–1493), was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active in his native Florence. His real name was Jacopo di Arcangelo. He worked in an eclectic style based on those of Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, and Domenico ...

. In the third chapel to the left, is a polychrome wooden ''Madonna and child'' (1350) by a follower of Nino, the son of

Andrea Pisano Andrea Pisano (Pontedera 12901348 Orvieto) also known as Andrea da Pontedera, was an Italian sculptor and architect. Biography Pisano first learned the trade of a goldsmith. Pisano then became a pupil of Mino di Giovanni, about 1300, and wo ...

, and frescoes of the ''Scenes from the life of the founder of the Cistercian order'' (1688–1689) by

Pier Dandini Pietro Dandini (12 April 1646 – 26 November 1712) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Florence. Biography He is also called ''Pier Dandini''. He was the son (or nephew) and pupil of the painter Vincenzo Dandini. P ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frediano In Cestello, San Roman Catholic churches completed in 1689 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Baroque architecture in Florence Roman Catholic churches in Florence 1689 establishments in Italy Church buildings with domes Oltrarno