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Home > Italy Travel Guide > Florence Travel Guide > Santa Maria Novella Church (Chiesa di Santa Maria Novella)

Santa Maria Novella Church Travel Guide

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Introduction
History
Location

ATTRACTIONS

Apse
Interior
Filippo Strozzi Chapel
Cappella Tornabuoni
Gondi Chapel
Cappella Strozzi di Mantova
Sacristy
Spanish Chapel

INFORMATION

Useful information
Links

Introduction

Santa Maria Novella is situated just across the main railway station which shares its name. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence. The church, the adjoining cloister, and chapterhouse contain a store of art treasures and funerary monuments. Especially famous are frescoes by masters of Gothic and early Renaissance. They were financed through the generosity of the most important Florentine families, who ensured themselves of funerary chapels on consecrated ground.

History

Its name, “Novella”, comes from the fact that it was built on the site of a 9th century oratory, called Santa Maria delle Vigne, which had already been enlarged in 1094. In 1221 this church and the surrounding area was assigned to the Dominican monks, who immediately began to transform it. Construction started on what were to be the sumptuous headquarters of the powerful Dominican Order in 1246; designed by two architect monks, Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi, it was completed in 1360 under the direction of Fra Iacopo Talenti, who also designed the Spanish Chapel or chapter house (1350-55), the convent Refectory (1353) and the great pointed belltower in Romanesque-Gothic style (1330).

At that time, only the lower part of the Tuscan gothic facade was finished. The three portals are spanned by round arches, while the rest of the lower part of the facade is spanned by blind arches, separated by pilasters, with below Gothic pointed arches, striped in green and white, capping noblemen's tombs. This same design continues in the adjoining wall around the old churchyard. The church was consecrated in 1420.On a commission from Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai, a local textile merchant, Leone Battista Alberti designed the upper part of the inlaid black and white marble facade of the church (1456-1470).

Location

Piazza di Santa Maria Novella
Bus: 1, 4, 7, 9, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 28, 31, 32, 36, 37.

Apse

The apse was completely covered in frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio and his assistants between 1486 and 1490 and these were commissioned by Giovanni Tornabuoni, They show scenes from the life of John the Baptist and the Virgin. Thanks to restoration at the end of the 1980s the last great cycle of 15th century frescoes can now be seen in their soft luminous colors. The bronze crucifix is by Giambologna.

Interior

The vast interior is based on a basilica plan, designed as a Latin cross it displays a harmonious balance between soaring Gothic forms and the broad unified. The large nave is 100 metres long and gives an impression of austerity. There is a trompe l'oeil-effect by which this nave towards the apse seems longer than its actual length. The slender compound piers between the nave and the aisles are ever closer when you go deeper into the nave. The ceiling in the vault consists pointed arches with the four diagonal buttresses in black and white.

Filippo Strozzi Chapel

The Filippo Strozzi Chapel is situated on the right side of the main altar. The Strozzi Chapel was the place were the first tale of the Decamerone by Giovanni Boccaccio began, when seven ladies decided to leave the town, and flee from the Black Plague to the countryside. The series of frescoes from Filippo Lippi depict the life of Philip the Apostle and James the Apostle. They 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. Behind the altar is the tomb of Filippo Strozzi with a sculpture by Benedetto da Maiano (1441).

Cappella Tornabuoni

The choir (or the Cappella Tornabuoni) contains another series of famous frescoes, by Domenico Ghirlandaio and his apprentice the young Michelangelo (1485-1490). They represent themes from the life of the Virgin and John the Baptist, situated in Florence of the late 15th century. Several members of important Florentine families were portrayed on these frescoes. The vaults are covered with paintings of the Evangelists. On the back wall are the paintings Saint Dominic burns the Heretical Books and Saint Peter's Martyrdom, the Annunciation, and Saint John goes into the Desert.

Gondi Chapel

The Gondi Chapel, 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 back 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 Donatello in the Santa Croce church, 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 (ca.1503). The stained-glass window is recent 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 by Tommasso Strozzi, an ancestor of Filippo Strozzi, to Nardo di Cione (1350-1357). The frescoes are inspired by Dante's Divina Commedia: 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 his brother Andrea di Cione, better kwown as Orcagna. The large stained-glass window on the back was made from a cartoon by the brothers Andrea and Nardo di Cione.

Sacristy

The sacristy, at the end of the left aisle, was built as the Chapel of the Annunciation by the Cavalcanti family in 1380. Now it houses again, after a period of fourtain years of cleaning and renovation, the enormous painted Crucifix with the Madonna and John the Evangelist, an early work by Giotto. He had rediscovered the ideal proportions for the human body, as established by the Roman architect Vitruvius (1st century AD, see also : Vitruvian Man). 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 in 1593. The paintings on the wall are ascribed to Giorgio Vasari and some other comtemporary Florentine painters. The large Gothic window with three mullions at the back wall dates from 1386 and was based on cartoons by Niccolo di Pietro Gerini.

Spanish Chapel

The Spanish Chapel (or Cappellone degli Spagnoli) is the former chapterhouse of the monastery. It is situated at the north side of the green Cloister (Chiostro Verde). It was commissioned by Mico Guidalotti as his funerary chapel. Construction started c. 1343 and was finished in 1355. It was called "Spanish Chapel", because Cosimo I assigned it to Eleonora of Toledo and her Spanish retinue. The Spanish Chapel contains a smaller Chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament. The Spanish Chapel is decorated with 14th century frescoes by Andrea Bonaiuti. The large fresco on the right wall depicts the Allegory of the Active and Triumphant Church and of the Dominican order. It is especially interesting because it shows in the background the original designs of the Duomo of Florence by Arnolfo di Cambio (before Brunelleschi's dome was built). This fresco also contains portraits of pope Benedict IX, cardinal Friar Niccolo Albertini, count Guido di Poppi, Arnolfo di Cambio and the poet Petrarca. The frescoes on the other walls represent scenes from the lifes of Christ and Saint Peter, The Triumph of Saint Thomas Aquinas and the Allegory of the Sciences. The five-panelled polyptych on the altar of the Madonna Enthroned With and Child and Four Saints was made by Bernardo Daddi and dates from 1344.

Useful information

Open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 9:30 till 17:00
Open Friday and Sunday 13:00 till 17:00
Always closed on:
New Year's Day (January 1)
Easter - Christian
May Day / Labor Day (May 1)
Assumption Day - Christian (August 15)
Christmas - Christian (December 25)
Tips: Photography is allowed.

Links

Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Santa Maria Novella Museum and Cloisters

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