Santa Maria Novella is a church 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 populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. The church, the adjoining cloister, and chapter house contain a multiplicity of art treasures and funerary monuments. Especially famous are frescoes by masters of Gothic and

early Renaissance Renaissance art (1350 – 1620 AD) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occ ...

. They were financed by the most important Florentine families, who ensured themselves funerary chapels on consecrated ground.

History

This church was called S. Maria Novella ('New') because it was built on the site of the 9th-century oratory of Santa Maria delle Vigne. When the site was assigned to the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

in 1221, they decided to build a new church and adjoining cloister. The church was designed by two Dominican friars, Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi. Building began in the mid-13th century (about 1276), and lasted 80 years, ending under the supervision of Friar Iacopo Talenti with the completion of the Romanesque- Gothic bell tower and sacristy. In 1360, a series of Gothic arcades were added to the façade; these were intended to contain sarcophagi. The church was consecrated in 1420. On a commission from the wealthy Florentine wool merchant

Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai (1403–1481) was a member of a wealthy family of wool merchants in Renaissance Florence, in Tuscany, Italy. He held political posts under Cosimo and Lorenzo de' Medici, but is principally remembered for building Palaz ...

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. H ...

designed the upper part of the inlaid green marble of Prato, also called 'serpentino', and white marble façade of the church (1456–1470). He was already famous as the architect of the

Tempio Malatestiano The Tempio Malatestiano ( it, Malatesta Temple) is the unfinished cathedral church of Rimini, Italy. Officially named for St. Francis, it takes the popular name from Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, who commissioned its reconstruction by the fa ...

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

, but even more for his seminal treatise on architecture '' De re aedificatoria''. Alberti had also designed the façade for the Rucellai Palace in Florence. Alberti attempted to bring the ideals of humanist architecture, proportion and classically inspired detailing to bear on the design, while also creating harmony with the already existing medieval part of the façade. The combined façade can be inscribed by a square; many other repetitions of squares can be found in the design. His contribution consists of a broad

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

decorated with squares, and the full upper part, including the four white-green pilasters and a round window, crowned by a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

with the Dominican solar emblem, and flanked on both sides by enormous S-curved

volute A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals. Four are normally to be found on an Ion ...

s. The four columns with Corinthian capitals on the lower part of the façade were also added. The pediment and the frieze are clearly inspired by antiquity, but the S-curved scrolls in the upper part are new and without precedent in antiquity. Solving a longstanding architectural problem of how to transfer from wide to narrow storeys, the scrolls (or variations of them), found in churches all over Italy, all draw their origins from the design of this church. The frieze below the pediment carries the name of the patron : ''IOHAN(N)ES ORICELLARIUS PAU(LI) F(ILIUS) AN(NO) SAL(UTIS) MCCCCLXX (Giovanni Rucellai son of Paolo in the year of salvation 1470).''

Interior

The vast interior is based on a basilica plan, designed as an Egyptian cross (T-shaped) and is divided into a nave, two aisles set with windows and a short transept. The large nave is 100 metres long and gives an impression of austerity. The piers are of compound form and have Corinthian columns supporting pointed Gothic arches above which is a clerestory of ocular windows above which rises a ribbed, pointed quadrupartite vault. The ribs and arches are all black and white polychrome. There is a ''

trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

'' effect by which towards the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

the nave seems longer than its actual length because the piers between the nave and the aisles are progressively closer, nearer to the chancel. Many of the windows have stained glass dating from the 14th and 15th century, such as 15th century ''Madonna and Child'' and St. John and St. Philip (designed by

Filippino Lippi Filippino Lippi (April 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian painter working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance. Biography Filippino Lippi was born in Prato, Tusc ...

), both in the Filippo Strozzi Chapel. Some stained glass windows have been damaged in the course of centuries and have been replaced. The one at the west end, a depiction of the ''Coronation of Mary'', dates from the 14th century, and is based on a design of

Andrea di Bonaiuto da Firenze Andrea di Bonaiuto da Firenze or Andrea da Firenze (I) (active 1343 – 1377) was an Italian painter active in Florence. He was probably born in Florence where he was active from 1343.Filippo Brunelleschi and executed by his adopted son Andrea Cavalcanti. This pulpit has a particular historical significance, since it was from this pulpit that the first verbal attack was made on

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He wa ...

, leading eventually to his indictment. ''The Holy Trinity'', situated almost halfway along the left aisle, is a pioneering early Renaissance work of Masaccio, showing his new ideas about perspective and mathematical proportions. Its meaning for the art of painting can easily be compared to the importance of Brunelleschi for architecture and

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance s ...

for sculpture. The patrons were the judge and his wife, members of the Lenzi family, here depicted kneeling. The cadaver tomb below carries in Italian the epigram: "I was once what you are, and what I am you will become". Of particular note in the right aisle is the ''Tomba della Beata Villana'', a monument by Bernardo Rossellino executed in 1451. In the same aisle, are located tombs of bishops of Fiesole, one by Tino di Camaino and another by Nino Pisano.

Tornabuoni Chapel

The chancel (or the Cappella Tornabuoni) contains series of famous frescoes painted from 1485 to 1490 by Domenico Ghirlandaio whose apprentice was the young Michelangelo. The frescoes represent themes from the lives of the Virgin and John the Baptist. They contain portrayals of several members of important Florentine families. The vaults have roundels with paintings of the Evangelists. On the rear wall are the paintings ''Saint Dominic burns the Heretical Books'' and ''Saint Peter's Martyrdom'', the ''Annunciation'', and ''Saint John goes into the Desert''. The stained-glass windows were made in 1492 by the Florentine artist Alessandro Agolanti, known also as Il Bidello, and were based on cartoons by Ghirlandaio. The bronze crucifix on the main altar is by Giambologna (16th century).

Filippo Strozzi Chapel

The Filippo Strozzi Chapel is situated on the right side of the main altar. The series of frescoes by Filippino Lippi depict the lives of Apostle Philip and the Apostle

Saint James the Great James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob (Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin '' ...

and were completed in 1502. On the right wall is the fresco ''St Philip Driving the Dragon from the Temple of Hieropolis'' and in the lunette above it, the ''Crucifixion of St Philip''. On the left wall is the fresco ''St John the Evangelist Resuscitating Druisana'' and in the lunette above it ''The Torture of St John the Evangelist''. Adam, Noah, Abraham and Jacob are represented on the

ribbed vault A rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, Islamic a ...

. Behind the altar is the tomb of Filippo Strozzi with a sculpture by

Benedetto da Maiano Benedetto da Maiano (1442 – May 24, 1497) was an Italian Early Renaissance sculptor. Biography Born in the village of Maiano (now part of Fiesole), he started his career as companion of his brother, the architect Giuliano da Maiano. When he ...

(1491).

Gondi Chapel

This chapel, designed by Giuliano da Sangallo, is situated on the left side of the main altar and dates from the end of the 13th century. Here, on the rear wall, is the famous wooden '' Crucifix'' by Brunelleschi, one of his very few sculptures. The legend goes that he was so disgusted by the "primitive" Crucifix of

in the Florence's church of Santa Croce that he made this one. The vault contains fragments of frescoes by 13th-century Greek painters. The polychrome marble decoration was applied by Giuliano da Sangallo (c. 1503). The stained-glass window and dates from the 20th century.

Cappella Strozzi di Mantova

The Cappella Strozzi di Mantova is situated at the end of the left transept. The frescoes were commissioned from

Nardo di Cione Nardo di Cione (died c. 1366) was an Italian painter, sculptor and architect from Florence. He was the brother of the more accomplished Andrea di Cione, called Orcagna, as well as Jacopo di Cione; they were important members of the Painters Guil ...

(1350–1357) by Tommaso Strozzi, an ancestor of Filippo Strozzi. The frescoes are inspired by

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

's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature ...

'': Last Judgment (on the back wall; including a portrait of Dante), Hell (on the right wall) and paradise (on the left wall). The main altarpiece of ''The Redeemer with the Madonna and Saints'' was done by

's brother, Andrea di Cione, better known as Orcagna. The large stained-glass window on the back was made from a cartoon by the two brothers.

Della Pura Chapel

The Della Pura Chapel is situated north of the old cemetery. It dates from 1474 and was constructed with Renaissance columns. It was restored in 1841 by Gaetano Baccani. On the left side there is a lunette with a 14th-century fresco ''Madonna and Child with St Catherine''. On the front altar there is a wooden crucifix by Baccio da Montelupo (1501).

Rucellai Chapel

The Rucellai Chapel, at the end of the right aisle, dates from the 14th century. Besides the tomb of Paolo Rucellai (15th century) and the marble statue of the ''Madonna and the Child'' by Nino Pisano, it houses several art treasures such as remains of frescoes by the Maestro di Santa Cecilia (end 13th – beginning 14th century). The panel on the left wall, ''the Martyrdom of St Catherine'', was painted by Giuliano Bugiardini (possibly with assistance from Michelangelo). The bronze tomb, in the centre of the floor, was made by

Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptister ...

in 1425.

Bardi Chapel

The Bardi Chapel, the second chapel on the right of the apse, was founded by Riccardo Bardi and dates from early 14th century. The high-relief on a pillar on the right depicts ''St Gregory blessing Riccardo Bardi''. The walls show us some early 14th-century frescoes attributed to Spinello Aretino. The ''Madonna del Rosario'' on the altar is by

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

(1568)

Sacristy

The sacristy, at the end of the left aisle, was built as the Chapel of the Annunciation by the Cavalcanti family in 1380. It houses, after a recent period of fourteen years of cleaning and renovation, the enormous painted ''Crucifix with the Madonna and John the Evangelist'', an early work by

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/ Proto-Renaissance period. G ...

. The sacristy is also embellished by a glazed terra cotta and a marble font, masterpieces by Giovanni della Robbia (1498). The cupboards were designed by

Bernardo Buontalenti Bernardo Buontalenti (), byname of Bernardo Delle Girandole ( 1531 – June 1608), was an Italian stage designer, architect, theatrical designer, military engineer and artist and inventor of italian ice cream. Biography Buontalenti was born in ...

in 1593. The paintings on the wall are ascribed to

and to other contemporary Florentine painters. The large Gothic window with three mullions at the back wall dates from 1386 and was based on cartoons by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini

Spanish Chapel

The Spanish Chapel (or ''Cappellone degli Spagnoli'') is the former chapter house of the convent. It is situated at the north side of the green Cloister (''Chiostro Verde''). It was commissioned by Buonamico (Mico) Guidalotti as a chapter house for the

. Construction started c. 1343 and was finished in 1355. The Guidalotti chapel was later called "Spanish Chapel", because Cosimo I assigned it to Eleonora of Toledo and her Spanish retinue. Within the Spanish Chapel there is a smaller Chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament. The Spanish Chapel was decorated from 1365 to 1367 by

Andrea di Bonaiuto Andrea di Bonaiuto da Firenze or Andrea da Firenze (I) (active 1343 – 1377) was an Italian painter active in Florence. He was probably born in Florence where he was active from 1343.Florence Cathedral by Arnolfo di Cambio (before Brunelleschi's dome was built). However, such an interpretation is fantasy since the Duomo was never intended to be pink, nor to have the bell tower at the rear. This fresco also contains portraits of pope Benedict IX, cardinal Friar Niccolò Albertini, count Guido di Poppi, Arnolfo di Cambio and the poet

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...

. The frescoes on the other walls represent scenes from the lives of Christ and St Peter on the entry wall (mostly ruined due to the later installation of a choir), ''The Triumph of St Thomas Aquinas'' and the ''Allegory of Christian Learning'' on the left wall, and the large "Crucifixion with the Way to Calvalry and the Descent into Limbo" on the archway of the altar wall. The four-part vault contains scenes of Christ's resurrection, the navicella, the Ascension, and Pentecost. The five-panelled Gothic

polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a painting (usually panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Specifically, a "diptych" is a two-part work of art; a " triptych" is a three-part work; a tetrapt ...

that was probably originally made for the chapel's altar, depicting the ''Madonna Enthroned with Child and Four Saints'' by Bernardo Daddi dates from 1344 and is currently on display in a small museum area reached ed through glass doors from the far end of the cloister. Together, the complex iconography of the ceiling vault, walls, and altar combine to communicate the message of Dominicans as guides to salvation. Rectangular in shape, towards the west it has a scarsella containing the altar and a marble crucifix by Domenico Pieratti from the early seventeenth century, donated in 1731 by Gian Gastone de' Medici.

Architecture

was the architect, commissioned in 1567 by Grand Duke Cosimo I, for the first remodelling of the church, which included removing its original rood screen and loft, and adding six chapels between the columns. The second remodelling was designed by Enrico Romoli, and was carried out between 1858 and 1860. The square in front the church was used by Cosimo I for the yearly chariot race (''Palio dei Cocchi''). This custom existed between 1563 and late in the 19th century. The two

Obelisks of the Corsa dei Cocchi The Obelisks of the Corsa dei Cocchi, or Aguglie di Piazza Santa Maria Novella are two 16th-century, four-sided, marble obelisk monuments located in the Piazza of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. The obelisks replaced two py ...

marked the start and the finish of the race. They were set up to imitate an antique Roman

Circus Maximus The Circus Maximus (Latin for "largest circus"; Italian: ''Circo Massimo'') is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and l ...

. The obelisks rest on bronze tortoises, made in 1608 by the sculptor Giambologna.

Astronomical Instruments

An armillary sphere (on the left) and an astronomical quadrant with gnomon (on the right) were added to the end blind arches of the lower façade by

Ignazio Danti Ignazio (Egnation or Egnazio) Danti, O.P. (April 1536 – 10 October 1586), born Pellegrino Rainaldi Danti, was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate, mathematician, astronomer, and cosmographer, who served as Bishop of Alatri (1583–1586). ''(in ...

, astronomer of Cosimo I, in 1572. The armilliary sphere was intended to determine the vernal equinox and this was observed for the first time publicly in 1574. The gnomon threw shadows on the astronomical quadrant to tell the time according to the transalpine, Italian and Bohemian methods. Thanks to these instruments, the astronomer was able to calculate exactly the discrepancy between the true solar year and the Julian calendar, then still in use since its promulgation in 46 BC. By demonstrating his studies in Rome to Pope Gregory XIII, he obtained the realignment of the days and the promulgation of the new Gregorian calendar, jumping into a night in 1582 from 4 October to 15 October. Santa Maria Novella - meridian line (south end)

Santa Maria Novella - meridian line (south end)

Danti also placed a hole in the south facing circular window at a height of and installed a meridian line on the floor of the church as a better method of determining the equinoxes than the armilliary sphere. However, the construction was not completed due to the death of his patron, the Grand Duke Cosimo I.

List of artworks

Artists who produced items for the church include: *

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 ...

– early work, a nativity scene above the door (''

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...

'') * Baccio D'Agnolo – wood carvings * Bronzino – the ''Miracle of Jesus'' * Filippo Brunelleschi – ''The Crucifix'' (between 1410 and 1425) * Tino da Camaino – ''Bust of St. Antoninus'' (in terra cotta); the ''Tomb of the Bishop of Fiesole'' *

– frescoes of the Divine Judgment * Duccio – ''Rucellai Madonna'' *

– tombstone of Leonardo Dati (1423) * Domenico Ghirlandaio – frescoes (late 15th century) in the

Tornabuoni Chapel The Tornabuoni Chapel (Italian: ''Cappella Tornabuoni'') is the main chapel (or chancel) in the church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy. It is famous for the extensive and well-preserved fresco cycle on its walls, one of the most complete i ...

, design of the stained-glass window *

– frescoes in the Strozzi Chapel, depicting the life of Philip the Apostle; stained glass window *

– the ''Tomb of Filippo Strozzi'' (1491) at the backside of the Strozzi Chapel. * Giacomo Marchetti – ''Martyrdom of Saint Laurence''. * Masaccio – ' 'Holy Trinity'' * Nino Pisano – ''Madonna with Child'' (1368) * Bernardo Rossellino – Monument to the Beata Villana (1451) * Santi di Tito – ''Lazarus Raised from Death'' *

Paolo Uccello Paolo Uccello ( , ; 1397 – 10 December 1475), born Paolo di Dono, was an Italian (Florentine) painter and mathematician who was notable for his pioneering work on visual perspective in art. In his book ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, S ...

– frescoes in the cloisters *

– ''Madonna of the Rosary'' (1568)

Notable prioresses

* Saint Agnes of Montepulciano

List of burials

Joseph II of Constantinople Joseph II (1360 – 10 June 1439) was Patriarch of Constantinople from 1416 to 1439, of Bulgarian origin. Born the (possibly illegitimate) son of Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria in 1360, little is known of his early life before he became a monk on Mo ...

(1439) * Domenico Ghirlandaio (1494) * Niccolò Gaddi- cardinal (1552)

References

Sources

External links

Opera per Santa Maria Novella
official homepage

virtual reality movie and pictures on commercial tourist website ItalyGuides.it created by ComPart Multimedia in Rome

at private tourist website Museumsinflorence.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Basilica of Santa Maria Novella Maria Novella Maria Novella Renaissance architecture in Florence Fresco paintings in Florence Gothic paintings Paintings by Giotto Dominican churches in Italy 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Leon Battista Alberti church buildings