The Churches of Florence

The area south of the Arno, recently expanded to west and east for this page
following the finding of two interesting churches yet to be visited.

Arcangelo Raffaello Borgo San Frediano		San Carlo dei Barnabiti Via Sant'Agostino
History Founded in 1531, on the site of the earlier Hospital of Santa Lucia belonging to the confraternity of the Bigallo (1428-1530), by the Benedictine nuns from the monastery of Sant'Anna in Verzaia, whose convent had been destroyed during the siege of 1529. In 1538 it passed to the Franciscan Tertiaries. With suppression in 1748 the building was used as a hospice for mendicants and various other uses followed, involving substantial alterations. After 1845 the monastery became a tobacco factory and then a barracks. It then became the sculpture studio of Lorenzo Bartolini who, after his death, passed the building on to his protégé Pasquale Romanelli who worked here from 1851 to 1887. There is a plaque to his memory near the main entrance. The building remains in the Romanelli family and is today used as a sculpture showroom. Over the door there is a marble bas-relief by one of the Cennini of The Archangel Raphael with Tobias.		History Built in 1636 by Gherardo Silvani for the Barnabites, replacing the order's oratory on the site. The order thrived in the early 18th century, hence the ceiling fresco by Sigismondo Betti of The Glory of the Virgin with St Paul and St Carlo Borromeo from 1721, the architectural work by Bernardino Ciurini in 1743, the perspective views by Domenico Stagi of 1757-58, and more painting (in the dome and spandrels) by Giuseppe Zocchi in 1747. Suppressed in 1783, the church passed into private hands, until 1838 when it was acquired by the Scalopi Fathers, who kept it until 1866. Since then it has been used as a school, a gymnasium, and for art exhibitions and the like.
San Bartolomeo a Monte Oliveto Via del Monte Oliveto
A new discovery and hence an incomplete entry, for now, pending my finding and visiting it. History A monastery here was founded in 1334 by a monk from the abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore Interior A single nave, the church has 16th century frescoes and several altarpieces, one attributed to the school of Vasari. Lost art The famous and fine Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci (see below) was painted for this church, but went to the Uffizi in the 19th century. It's his first existing painting.
San Felice in Piazza Piazza di San Felice
History Documented as early as 1066, the church's name is said to derive from Platitia or Placza, the name of the area stretching up here from Santa Felicita, which was becoming more populous at that time. Acquired by Benedictines from the monastery of San Silvestro in Nonantola in 1153. Their expansion in the mid-14th century resulted in the five ogival mullioned windows still visible on the outer wall of the church. Also the lunette fresco in the sixth altar on the left, The Virgin and Child with Saint James Major, Pope Sylvester and the Abbot of Nonantola attributed to the Master of the Bargello (c.1365). The church passed to Camoldolese monks in 1414. Largely rebuilt c. 1457-60 by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, with funds provided by Mariotto di Dinozzo Lippi. The new façade and apse chapels date from this rebuilding. The cross-vault ceiling dates from the 16th century. The complex was taken over in 1557 by Dominican nuns from the monastery of San Pier Martire in Via dei Serragli, who had been forced to move because of the demolition of their convent to make way for the strengthening of the city fortifications. They changed the monastery's dedication to Saint Peter Martyr. The large nun's gallery was built during this time, with a work room above the entrance, due to the Dominicans being a closed order, and the sacristy. The 16th and 17th centuries saw the building of new altars, in counter-reformation style, and the 17th and 18th saw tombs of artists and other employees who had worked at the nearby Palazzo Pitti, but no one very famous. In the 18th century the complex became a Conservatory for poor girls, and in 1780 a free school for the needy of Oltrarno, remaining so even after the Napoleonic suppression of 1808. The church became a parish church. Following a fire in 1926 the church was restored, by engineer and architect Ezio Cerpi, who attempted to take the interior back to its 14th and 15th century appearance. There was more restoration work at the end of the 1970s. Interior It's a big, but somewhat dingy and cluttered, church with a deep vestibule area half the length of the church containing four altars each side and a closed nuns' gallery above (see photo below right). The main body of the church has a mixture of altars, depth wise. The three biggest are on the left with more of mixture on the right. Some good and bad art, including a dingy (or just ill-lit) Ridolfo Ghirlandaio altarpiece of The Virgin and Saints and a large crucifix over the high altar (c.1308) (see photo right), restored in 1992 when its attribution to Giotto was confirmed, of course. It is still widely thought to be more 'workshop of'. (Unlike his crucifixes in Santa Maria Novella, Ognissanti and San Marco it was not mentioned by Vasari or Ghiberti.) There are a few good fresco fragments here too. In the refectory is a well-conserved Last Supper by Matteo Rosselli (1614). Lost art The nuns from San Pier Martire who came here in 1557 brought with them their Fra Angelico altarpiece, which remained here until 1818, when its predella was separated and sold. The main panel is now in the Museum of San Marco and the predella panels are in the Courtauld Institute in London. An altarpiece of 1460, the main panel, of The Coronation of the Virgin with Twelve Saints, being by Neri di Bicci is now in the Uffizi. The predella panels are by Francesco Botticini and currently three are in the Colonna Collection in Rome, with the remaining parts in the Villa I Tatti, the Brooklyn collection in New York, and the Saibene collection in Milan. Campanile A belfry with four bells built over the main chapel in 1742. Feast day performances Many churches in Florence were famous for putting on, often spectacular, performances on particular feast days, involving hoists, machinery and fireworks. San Felice's was the Annunciation, which saw an actor swoop across the nave on ropes to deliver his message to a boy dressed as Mary. The ceiling trusses in here were useful for this. Brunelleschi's sets for the 1439 performance were said to have been particularly memorable. In 1591 Francesco Bocchi singled out this church as being eminently suitable for such performances, its three naves providing ample space. Opening times Monday-Friday 9.00-11.30 & 4.00-7.00 Saturday 9.00-1130
San Francesco di Paola Piazza San Francesco di Paola
History Built for Franciscan Minim friars (the order founded by Saint Francis of Paola, which was devoted to humility and veganism) previously established at the church of San Giuseppe. The complex was built on farmland provided by Alessandro di Camillo Strozzi, with work starting in 1589. The architect Gherardo Silvani was involved from 1638 to the church's completion in 1643 although his contributions aren't documented. Restoration in the mid-18th century, including decoration and work on the roof, and 1996-2005. The monastery was suppressed in 1782 by Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo, and turned into a villa (in 1873?) by Senator John Federighi, with the church becoming a private chapel, as commemorated by a marble slab over the door of the church. The neoclassical sculptor Adolf von Hildebrand later lived here creating, in the 1870s, a celebrated salon whose visitors included Liszt, Wagner, Gladstone, and Henry James. The church has since been reconsecrated and is now used as a parish church. The monastery is now private apartments owned by the heirs of the British historian Harry Brewster, who married one of Adolf von Hildebrand's daughters. Art highlights Here since 1785 has been the detached fresco fragment of The Madonna del Parto by Taddeo Gaddi (c. 1355) (see left) taken from the demolished church of San Pier Maggiore. But it is said to have originally come from San Donato a Scopeto, destroyed in 1529, the same church which supplied the Romanesque portico now on the façade of San Jacopo sopr'Arno and for which Leonardo was commissioned to paint his early and unfinished Adoration of the Magi, now in the Uffizi. It was discovered in 1964 and restored in 1966. Also a 15th century wooden crucifix, an Annunciation attributed to Giovan Battista Vanni, a 1602 Portrait of San Francesco di Paola, six canvases of Stories of Saint Francis of Paola by Ignazio Hugford, and two works by Giuseppe Moriani of 1716. In the garden there is a statue of Saint Francis of Paola by Giuseppe Piamontini (1695). Lost art The tomb of Bishop Jerome Benozzo Federighi by Luca della Robbia originally here has since been moved to San Pancrazio (in 1809) and to Santa Trinita in 1895, where it remains.
San Francesco di Sales Via dell'Orto
History The church, along with the girls' boarding-school of San Francesco di Sales, known as the Conventino, were built in 1700 to a design by Anton Maria Ferri and financed by the Da Verrazzano family. The church and school were built on part of the site of the former Camaldolese monastery of San Salvatore, of which some buildings still remain. Interior The church contains various 18th-century works of art. Over the high altar is Saint Francis de Sales saying Mass by Ignatius Hugford, on the side altars are The Visitation and The Crucifixion Between Two Saints by Giovanni Antonio Pucci and on the ceiling a fresco of The Virgin in Glory with Saint Francis de Sales and St Jeanne Frangoise de Chantal.
San Frediano in Cestello Lungarno Soderini
History The original church is said to have been built to celebrate a miracle performed by the 6th-century Irish saint, and Bishop of Lucca, Fridianus (Frediano). The Cistercians in residence, from whom the church derives its name, were moved to Santa Maria Maddalena in 1514 to make way for Carmelite nuns, with the patronage of the Soderini family. The Carmelite convent was called Santa Maria degli Angeli. By the time Paolo Antonio Soderini was exiled, in the mid-16th century, when the Grand Duke took over as patron, the area had become more densely populated. The Cistercians returned in 1628 when Cardinal Francesco Barberini moved the Carmelite nuns to Santa Maria Maddalena. He did this because two of his nieces, Innocenza and Grazia, were nuns here and it wasn't the nicest of areas. The Cistercians instituted rebuilding, to designs by Silvani executed by Antonio Cerutti, from 1680-1689. It was at this time that the church was moved and turned to face North, having been previously west-facing, as seen in the Catena map of 1471 (see above). The cupola and campanile were built in 1698 by Antonio Ferri, who also had a hand in Palazzo Corsini over the Arno. Following Grand Duke Leopold's suppressions of 1808 the Cistercians left and the building became a parish church. Interior Airy and two-tone white and grey, with the grey being very bluish. Aisleless, it's very 18th-century inside and quite low-key Baroque, with three deep interconnected open chapels down each side of the nave. All of them are finely frescoed in the domes, lunettes and pendentives by six Florentine painters of the late-17th and early-18th centuries, including Gabbiani, Bonechi and Dandini. The left hand ones all have lanterns in their domes, but the right hand ones rely on light from the clerestories. The transept is bare of decoration with no altars, just two pairs of wooden confessionals at each end with paintings above - the Crucifixion and the Virgin in Glory mentioned below. The impressive painting of the the Virgin in Glory in the central dome (see photo below) is by Antonio Domenico Gabbiani (1702–1718). The Four Virtues in the pendentives are by Matteo Bonechi. There's a polychrome wooden Virgin and Child by a follower of Nino Pisano, the son of Andrea, of c. 1350. Crucifixion with Saints and Martyrdom of St. Lawrence by Jacopo del Sellaio. Virgin in Glory with Saints by Francesco Curradi. Frescoes of Scenes from the life of the founder of the Cistercian order (1688–1689) by Pier Dandini. The refectory has a Last Supper by Bernardino Poccetti. In the cloisters there's a statue of Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi (1726) by Antonio Montauti and St Bernard of Clairvaux defeats the devil (1702) by Giuseppe Piamontini. Lost art Jacopo del Sellaio painted a Crucifixion altarpiece in 1483 for the chapel of the Compagnia delle Brucciata in this church (see below right). It was unfinished at the artist's death and was completed by his son Arcangelo. It is a non-narrative treatment of the subject, featuring Saints Frediano and Jerome kneeling in the foreground, with small narrative scenes, including the suicide of Judas and the remorseful Peter, in the background. Around 1517/18 a terracotta lunette of the Resurrected Christ and a frame (now also lost) were commissioned from Andrea della Robbia. The altarpiece ended up in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin and was destroyed (or stolen) in the fires and looting in the Friedrichshain flak tower (flakturm) in May 1945, where paintings from the Berlin collections were being stored to protect them from bombing. An artist nun Antonia Uccello, the daughter of artist Paolo, was a Carmelite nun here. She was a reputable artist, mentioned as such by Vasari (who described her as a 'daughter who knew how to draw') but none of her work has survived, or can be identified. Her death certificate even described her as a pittoressa. A Pazzi family nun Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi was a Carmelite nun from the Pazzi family who had lived, and died, here before the Carmelites moved to the church which now bears her name. When possessed of the holy spirit, she would speak at such a rate as took eight novices to transcribe her utterances. She was also known to pour boiling wax on her arms and lie naked in thorns. She was canonized in 1669 and is buried at Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi. She is commemorated here by a plaque on he convent wall facing the street (see right). Opening times 9.30-11.30 & 5.00-6.00

San Giorgio alla Costa Costa San Giorgio
History The original church may date from the 10th century. A convent was added and having belonged to the Canons of Sant'Andrea a Mosciano, the Dominicans and the Silvestrines, in 1520 it was rebuilt at the behest of Lucrezia de 'Medici, daughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and granted to the Vallombrosan nuns, who dedicated it to the Holy Spirit. Restored in baroque style by Giovanni Battista Faggini in 1705-8. At this time the ceiling painting of The Glory of St George by Alessandro Gherardini was added, and the oval painting on Faggini's high altar, showing The Descent of the Holy Ghost by Anton Domenico Gabbiani. Other altarpieces were by Tommaso Redi, Jacopo Vignali and Passagnano. Suppressed by Napoleon in 1808, between 1926 and 1933 the complex was converted to house the headquarters of the Barracks Vittorio Veneto. The church is currently used by a Romanian Orthodox congregation, but due to structural damage to the roof they have to use the crypt (see photo far below right) through the small entrance doorway to the steep street (see photo right). But I recently read that in 2018, after a closure of 35 years, the roof was repaired and the church reopened. And in November 2021 restoration work on the baroque interior (see below right) and the installation of new lighting was completed. Lost art A very early Giotto - the *Madonna of* San Giorgio alla Costa of c.1296 (see right) is now in the possession of the (never open) Diocesan Museum at Santo Stefano al Ponte, but it has recently gone on display in the Opera del Duomo Museum on temporary loan. It was reattributed to Giotto only in 1939 by German art critic Robert Oertel - Ghiberti and Vasari had both thought it by Giotto, though. Richard Offner, who was the one who found it, thought it the work of the Saint Cecilia Master (an opinion which held sway in the early 20th century) and mentioned documents telling of it working miracles still in 1801. Opinions are still divided. The painting was cut down on all four sides in the 18th century to fit a baroque altar. It is very red, but the Virgin's black robe has discoloured drastically from its original blue. For many years the panel was kept in Santo Stefano al Ponte where it was damaged on May 27th 1993 in the mafia car-bombing of the Uffizi. During its restoration a tear was left in the left corner in memory of the event. In addition, in the catalogue to the recent exhibition in Milan Giotto, L'Italia, in an essay on this Madonna, Andrea de Marchi suggests that a Crucifix painted for this church and mentioned by Ghiberti is the one currently in the Parisian seminary at Issy-les-Moulineaux. Conservation work may soon reveal whether this is so. Another Crucifix, from the last quarter of the 13th century, by an anonymous Florentine, damaged and now in the Accademia, is also said to be probably the one seen by Ghiberti and thought by him to be by Giotto. Alesso Baldovinetti's early Annunciation, panel, painted c.1457 for the Silvestrine friars here. In the Uffizi since 1868. Neri di Bicci Annunciation, with Saints Jerome and Francis, 1460. Painted at the commission of Bartolommeo Corsellini for this church, now in the Accademia. Two panels showing San Pietro Igneous and San Benedetto, the latter looking very troubled, described as Toscana Scuola are now in the in the Andrea del Sarto Cenacolo Museum at San Salvi. A panel depicting The Virgin and Child with Saints John the Baptist, Sylvester, Martin and Filippo Benizzi, by Agnolo di Donino is now on the high altar in Santa Lucia dei Magnoli down the hill. Opening times Opened for Romanian Orthodox services Sundays at 10.30. Update November 2021: I recently read that in 2018, after a closure of 35 years, the roof was repaired and the church reopened, and that restoration work on the baroque interior and the installation of new lighting was completed this month. News of any plans for opening/access was not forthcoming. It was certainly looking sprucer on the outside in February 2022 (see photo above right)
San Girolamo Costa San Giorgio
History Built in 1432, the church of the former convent of San Girolamo alla Costa was built in 1432. The complex had been built in the 14th century for the sisters of the Franciscan Third Order, and enlarged in the 15th century, when the tabernacle over the old entrance (later walled up) was painted. It represents The Crucifixion between St Jerome and St Francis and is attributed to Pier Francesco Fiorentino. Rebuilt between 1515 and 1520 with further work in the 17th and 18th century which altered the church considerably. Suppressed in 1808, the convent was reopened in 1816 but was again suppressed in 1866 an put to military uses, with the church becoming the Vittorio Veneto barracks chapel in 1928. Currently (since December 2011) undergoing restoration work. A daughter of Galileo’s sister Virginia was a nun here, with the name of Suor Arcangiola. Maria Virginia, the daughter of his grandson Vincenzo, was also a nun here, with the name of Suor Maria Olimpia. Lost art Two by (the studio of) Ridolfo Ghirlandaio - Saint Jerome at the Foot of the Crucifix, and an Annunciation.
San Giovanni della Calza Piazza della Calza
History Originally an ospedale dedicated to St John the Baptist stood here, known as San Giovanni Gerosolomitano and under the patronage of the Knights of Malta, but at some date after 1362 it took the dedication to Saint Nicholas, this being the name saint of the hospital's benefactress Donna Bice, who made a bequest to the hospital in 1362. By 1376 it was also known as Santi Bartolomeo e Niccolò. In 1373 a church was built here with funds provided by Bindo di Lapo Benini dedicated to San Niccolò dei Frieri. The Bindi family arms - crossed scarlet chains on a field of gold - are carved on the lintel above the church door. In 1392 the Knights gave the convent to nuns of the order of the Cavalleresse di Malta. They commissioned a Last Supper from Franciabigio, an associate of Andrea del Sarto, painted in their refectory in 1514. This has recently undergone considerable restoration (see photo far below right). In 1529 the complex passed to the lay Order of Gesuati who had had to move from their church and convent of San Giusto alle Mura, which had been destroyed preparatory to the Siege of Florence in 1529. They dedicated the church to Saint John the Baptist. It later took the name of San Giusto della Calza on account of the sock-shaped hood worn by the Gesuati. When the order was suppressed in 1668 the convent passed to Congregazione dei Sacerdoti di San Salvatore del Vescovo who moved here in 1689. Then it became the seat of Convitto Ecclesiastico dei Chierici o Seminaristi. It is now a home for elderly women. Interior The church, with its nuns' choir over the entrance, has an altarpiece by Empoli of Saint John the Evangelist and the Angel Gabriel. Lost art The panel of Three Saints by Nardo di Cione from c.1365 (see right), said to have been commissioned by Bindo di Lapo Benini, the builder of the church, maybe for the high altar, is now in the National Gallery in London. The three saints are John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and James, Lapo being a contraction of Jacopo, the Italian for James, John the Baptist being the dedicatee of the church and John the Evangelist possibly because he's James's brother's name saint. Another altarpiece, of 1386 and by Cecco di Pietro and now in the Portland Art Museum in Portland Oregon, may also have been here and commissioned by a member of the Benini family. Both are likely to have been moved out when the Gesuati arrived in 1531 and installed three altarpieces by Perugino taken from their church of San Giusto alle Mura, which had been destroyed preparatory to the Siege of Florence in 1529. These included the Pietà and The Agony in the Garden now in the Uffizi. The San Giusto Altarpiece (1480) by Dominico Ghirlandaio was also moved here (it was seen by Vasari) from San Giusto. The gorgeous and very Netherlandish main panel (see below) is now in the Uffizi (since 1853). When the Tuscan government refused to allow the main panel to be sold to the London National Gallery in 1855 it was bought in 1857 by the Grand Duke for the Uffizi. The five less impressive panels from the predella are elsewhere - three in the Met in New York and one each in the National Gallery in London and the Detroit Institute of Arts. They exhibit varying and argued-over amounts of studio involvement and are often given to Davide Ghirlandaio, the brother.
San Jacopo sopr'Arno Borgo San Jacopo
History Built in the 10th/11th centuries in a Romanesque style. According to Vasari Brunelleschi built a chapel here, the Ridolfi Chapel, the dome of which was a dry run for his famous dome on the Duomo. The chapel was destroyed during major rebuilding in the 18th century following responsibility passing to the Missionary Fathers. From 1542 the complex had been run by Franciscans. Following damage during the 1966 flood restoration work uncovered original features, including columns belonging to the original Romanesque church. The church is currently used by a Greek Orthodox congregation The façade The Romanesque portico, possibly 11th-century, was brought here from the church of San Donato a Scopeto, a church at the foot of Bellosguardo demolished in 1529 to clear ground before the siege. Interior Baroque and dating from 1709. Nice old columns and spandrels have been revealed at the sides, which complement the later and more baroque additions, rather than being covered up by them. Lots of icons around, the church currently being used by a Greek Orthodox congregation. During services expect chanting and incense, atmospheric mistiness, and bell-shaking also. Almost all of the art here dates from the 18th century rebuilding. Works by Pier Dandini (frescoes in the vault depicting Saint James), Niccolò Lapi (Moses) Matteo Bonechi (dome fresco of The Virgin in Glory with Angels) and Agostino Veracini (St. Francis of Assisi). Campanile Designed by Gherardo Silvani in 1660. Lost art Sogliani's Holy Trinity and Saints, with millions of putti, is in the Andrea del Sarto Cenacolo Museum at San Salvi. Rude locals Because of it's flying buttresses hanging over the river supporting its apse-end (see photo right) this church is popularly known as 'the church with its arse in the Arno'.
San Leonardo in Arcetri Via di San Leonardo
History 11th-century and dedicated to the French patron saint of prisoners, built in country-church style with a small bell-tower and a semi-circular tribune. The façade was restored in 1899 and 1921. The interior is an aisleless nave. The arch over the presbytery was built at the end of the 18th century. The Crucifix over the high altar is by an unknown Tuscan sculptor of the 19th century(?) The lunette over door is a 1928 mosaic of Saint Leonardo Between Two Angels by Giuseppe Castellucci (1863-1939). Art highlights A triptych by Lorenzo di Niccolò on the high altar. Three works by Neri di Bicci. An Annunciation with God, Angels and Prophets. The Assumption of the Virgin with Saints Thomas, Peter, Jerome, John and Francis commissioned by India SalViati and her brother Bernardo on 1 June 1467 from Neri, now positioned to the left of the choir's triumphal arch. Saint Thomas had been chosen by India as her patron saint as he was martyred on a mission to India. Her brother Bernard had commissioned a work from Neri di Bicci for this church himself, The Coronation of the Virgin, which had included his name saint. An important late-12th-century Romanesque pulpit was moved here in 1782, at the request of Grand Duke Leopold II, from San Pier Scheraggio, a church then being partially demolished and partially incorporated into the Uffizi. Major restoration work on the pulpit was carried out in 1921, the year of the celebration of the 600th anniversary of the death of Dante it being the “last remainder of the church that held the Council of the Florentine Republic, where Dante spoke”. More restoration work was carried out in 2010. Galileo Galilei died here on January 8, 1642. Photo above by Henk Woudsma, from The Unknown Florence
San Miniato al Monte Viale Galileo Galilei
this church now has its own page
San Niccolò sopr'Arno Via di San Niccolò
History Originally a Romanesque church founded around 1050, mentioned in a papal bull by Lucius III of March 3rd 1184, the church was largely rebuilt in the late 14th century when it became a parish church to cope with the increased population in the area, funding coming from Bernardo Quaratesi who commissioned from Gentile da Fabriano the Quaratesi Polyptych of 1425, now dismembered and dispersed to various museums (see below). Renovation followed the flood of 1557 and Vasari radically modernised the interior in 1567, installing monumental altars with altarpieces by Il Poppi, Allori and Curradi. Restoration work after the 1966 flood brought to light some fragments of the 15th-century decoration beneath Vasari's additions, such as the Saint Ansanus attributed to Francesco d'Antonio to be found in the chapel at the end of the right-hand side, along with its sinopia opposite. Interior In the sacristy is the reportedly highlight fresco of The Madonna of the Girdle of 1450, probably by Alessio Baldovinetti, or maybe Michelozzo. In here are also said to be found panels by Bicci di Lorenzo and his son Neri di Bicci. I've also read about work here by the Master of Signa, an anonymous pupil of Bicci di Lorenzo. Also five panels from a dossal of 1425 by Gentile da Fabriano, called The Intercession Altarpiece (see above) almost certainly commissioned to commemorate the death of Bernardo di Castello Quaratesi. Its central panel depicts Christ and the Virgin’s Intercession to God the Father, the side panels show Saint Louis of Toulouse, The Raising of Lazarus, Saints Comas and Damian with Saint Julian, and Saint Bernard. The panels were damaged in the fire here in 1897 and the flood of 1966. They also suffered neglect and bad restoration and were left in the storerooms of the Pitti Palace. Restoration began in 1995 and lasted 11 years, with the altarpiece then put on display at the Medici Palace. It is now back here, it is said. It may have originally come from San Salvatore al Monte. A fresco showing Saint Ansanus uncovered here in 1925, and detached (uncovering its sinopia) in 1965, was initially attributed to Gentile da Fabriano too, but later opinion gives it to Francesco di Antonio. Two by Allori: The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of 1582 and The Sacrifice of Isaac, signed and dated 1583, are said to still be here. Michelangelo hid in a small room at the base the bell-tower from the victorious Medici faction after the siege of Florence in 1530. He had sided with the republican faction. There's also a 12th-century crypt here, the only part of the original church that remains. But photos findable on Wikipedia show it worryingly being used as a restaurant Lost art An Annunciation panel by Masolino of c.1423/24 was the altarpiece of the Guardini chapel on the left side of the rood screen here. When the rood screen was demolished during Vasari's modernising it was moved to the altar of the other Guardini family chapel here. It was then moved in 1576 to the Sacristy and replaced by a new Annunciation altarpiece by Alessandro Fei. The Masolino panel is now in the Washington National Gallery, in Room 4 next to the predella panel from the Quartesi Altarpiece by Gentile da Fabriano mentioned below. The Quaratesi Altarpiece (signed and dated 1425) (see reconstruction photo right) was painted for the high altar here by Gentile da Fabriano. The four lateral panels depicting four saints (Mary Magdalen, Nicholas of Bari, John the Baptist and George with an Annunciation and Saints Francis and Dominic in the roundels) are in the Uffizi. These panels remained here until 1879 when they were given to the Uffizi by the Marquis Niccolò Quaratesi, a descendent of the original patron. The rest of the altarpiece had been removed by around 1834. The central panel, The Virgin and Child with Angels with The Blessing Christ in the roundel, is in the London National Gallery, on long-term loan from the Royal Collection, having been bought by Prince Albert in 1846 from the nephew of William Young Ottley, the latter having acquired it around 1824/32. Saint Nicholas's vestments in his panel include an orphrey with a predella-like sequence of scenes from the Life of Christ. The actual predella panels are scenes from the life of Saint Nicholas - four are in the Vatican Pinacoteca (where they were by 1884) and one is in the Washington National Gallery. This latter panel depicts Pilgrims at the Tomb of Saint Nicholas where behind the tomb is painted a representation of an apse mosaic with a predella-like band of scenes which duplicate the scenes in the Quaratesi Altarpiece itself. Opening times The 2017 Blue Guide says: You can visit before mass on Sat 5.30/6.00 in winter and 6.00/6.30 in summer and on Sun 10.15/11.25. Otherwise it is difficult to find it open. You are not kidding! The previous Blue Guide said Daily 8.30-11.00, 5.30-7.00, and I tried morning and evening visits for several years, mostly on Sundays, never finding it open. Hopes were sometimes raised by the large outer doors being tantalisingly open, but the inner doors were still always locked. Update February 2022 I made slight progress on the prospect of ever getting into San Niccolo by chatting to the chap who has opened a table-linens shop in the separate chapel to the left of the entrance. He invited me through the shop and I had just began to thank him profusely when he cut me off saying he was only able to let me peer through the glass panel in a locked door. He did say that coming on a Sunday morning before the service was my best bet. Next time.		Photo by Di Pufui PcPifpef
San Pier Gattolino Via Romana
History Documented from 1050, the old church of 'San Pietro Gattuario' was demolished in 1552 to make way for Cosimo I's fortifications. Rebuilt by a workman nicknamed Umido, who collected the necessary funds and materials, it was known as the church of Serumido. (The street beside the church is called the Via Ser Umido.) This rebuilding, in the manner of Santi di Tito was completed around 1571. The church became the favourite of Medici servants. St Philip Neri was born in the parish and was baptised here. Domenico Veneziano was buried here on the 15th of May 1561. The painter Giovanni di San Giovanni, who died on the 9th of December 1636, is buried here too. The Porta Romana, further down the Via Romana, was called the Porta San Pier Gattolino in the renaissance period. The church is now used by a Romanian congregation, with services every Sunday. Interior The aisleless nave, with a barrel-vaulted apse, was restructured in the 18th century, with more work in the 19th and 20th centuries. The ceiling was frescoed with the Glory of St Peter in 1809 by Domenico del Podesta. Over the high altar the altarpiece of The Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints is by the 16th century Master of Serumido, an artist whose identity remains unknown and who produced similar works for other churches in the Oltrano, as well as mythological scenes. On the left wall is, the Death of St Joseph by Antonio Soderini (1722). In the impressively decorated Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament (which has its own facade and entrance to the right of the church) is a Virgin and Child by Alessandro Fei (called il Barbiere) of 1568.
San Salvatore al Monte Viale Galileo Galilei
History A convent was founded here in 1417 by Observant Franciscans after a gift of land was made by Luca di Jacopo del Toso, with the stipulation that a church and convent be opened within a year. An oratory was built by 1419, dedicated to San Salvatore and San Francesco. This early church has been identified as the structure now known as the Cappellone, to the north of the present church. The Spanish siege of Florence in 1529 forced the Franciscans to vacate the complex and on their return in 1531 they found it much damaged. A new church was begun on 28th June 1431, which was finished, but for its roof, on 25th February 1435. This was a simple single-nave church on a north-south axis, visible on the Catena map, but proved structurally unsatisfactory, possibly due to unsound foundations, because in 1447 Cosimo de' Medici persuaded Castello Quaratesi to fund a new building, which he did in his will. (This after his offer to provide a façade for Santa Croce was refused.) He died in 1465, but designs provided in 1474 by a Fra Leone were declared to not be grand enough by Lorenzo de' Medici, which delayed the beginning of work. Building was begun around 1490, completed in 1504, under the supervision of Cronaca (Simone del Pollaiolo, the nephew of the painter brothers), who was also responsible for the design for the façade of Santa Croce, built much later. The façade here features the eagle symbol of the Arte di Calimala, who sponsored the work. Consecration followed in 1504. Following the Siege of 1529, during which the convent buildings were almost totally destroyed, the Franciscans moved to the Ognissanti complex in 1665, after which the church's name changed from San Francesco al Monte. But the Franciscans have since returned. This hilltop church ends an exhausting stairway mentioned by Dante and now set out as a Via Crucis for Holy Week processions. Michelangelo called the church the bella villanella (pretty country maid). The façade A design of considerable plainness, said to have been inspired by the austere teachings of Savonarola, but it was still thought too grand by the friars when it was being built. The façade features a single door with three windows above, with segmental and triangular pediments, only the middle one being real. The interior The interior is also plain, being said to be a balance between Franciscan austerity and the more grandiose needs of the patron. The walls are bare and off-white with sandy-coloured detailing and an open timber roof. It has triangular-pedimented clerestory windows echoing those on the facade and softening the gloom inside, a little. The minimally-decorated interior has, for example, no freeze decoration in the cornice between the upper and lower levels. The five interconnected deep side chapels on each side all have stained glass windows depicting saints, the designs for which are attributed to Perugino, and most have matching altars with plaster reliefs on the front against a yellow background. Art highlights Nothing in the chapels, but there's a rather nice Pietà with Saints over the last confessional on the left, with a very uncomfortable looking Christ (see right), said to be by Neri di Bicci. On the left wall of the apse is a Virgin Enthroned by Giovanni dal Ponte (see below right) with an odd Crucifix on the opposite wall. There are also two altarpiece panels depicting Saints Cosmas and Damian and Saints Francis and Anthony by Rossello di Jacopo Franchi, a pupil of Lorenzo Monaco. A terracotta relief of the Deposition by Giovanni della Robbia is over the north door. Tombs Buried here are Tanai de' Nerli, the statesman and persecutor of Savonarola who commissioned the Virgin and Child with Saints (also known as the Pala de' Nerli) by Filippino Lippi in Santo Spirito. Also Marcello Virgilio Adriani, who signed Savonarola's death sentence in 1498 and whose bust by Andrea Ferrucci, who also carved the Crucifix here, is to be found on the inner façade. Lost relics On the high altar the Franciscans kept the habit said to have been the one worn by Saint Francis when he received the stigmata on Mount Verna in 1224. It came here following seizure as booty in1503 from the castle of Monte Acuto during the war against the Aratines. The Franciscans took the relic to Ognissanti with them but it was returned to the sanctuary at La Verna when the Franciscans left Ognissanti on November 1st 2000. Lost art The Annunciation, an altarpiece by Zanobi Strozzi from 1440-45 in the National Gallery, London came from here, having been installed in the 1435 church and later removed during the Napoleonic suppressions in 1810. It is thought to have been in the Lanfredini chapel here as their insignia (the red and white target) is visible on the capitals of the columns in the painting. Vasari reported on the painting being here, when the church was called San Francesco, but said it was by Fra Angelico, who was Strozzi's teacher. The painting is signed among the gilded foliage in the border of the Virgin’s cloak. A carved wooden Crucifix group by the German sculptor Veit Stoss was commissioned around 1500 by someone called Santi délia Fonte for this church but was transferred to Ognissanti in 1561. The church in art The Tate Gallery in London has two pages from one of Turner's sketchbooks which it labels Two Sketches of a Church in Florence (San Salvatore al Monte?) and that question mark is well earned. There's also a clearer view called Florence from San Miniato al Monte, with San Salvatore al Monte. He drew many panoramas of Florence from up here too. A lovely pen and wash drawing by Giuseppe Zocchi, from the early 1740s, of a panorama of Florence and a side view of San Salvatore is in the Albertina in Vienna. One of 19th century painter Robert Charles Goff's many scenes of Florence and Tuscany features San Salvatore al Monte (see right). He was a follower of Whistler and an Irish Army colonel who travelled much and lived in Florence and Brighton
San Salvatore di Camaldoli Via di Camaldoli
History A church had existed here since the 11th century when the site was granted to the Camaldolites in 1102. They left after the siege of Florence of 1530 and the monastery was used as a poor house or ospedale di mendicità and part of it was incorporated into the Conventino and church of San Francesco di Sales. In the façade is a hole for the depositing of alms (see below). Lorenzo Lippi The Virgin Handing the Child to Saint Francis of 1629. Lost art Payments were made in 1480/81 for a tabernacle here by Domenico Ghirlandaio, now lost. Stories from the Life of Saint Acasius by Mannerist painter Francesco Ubertini (called Bachiacca) has been in the Uffizi since 1861. It was originally the predella for the altarpiece showing The Martyrdom of Saint Acasius by Giovannantonio Sogliani, commissioned in 1521 by Alfonsina Orsini for this church and today in San Lorenzo. A Crucifix painted for this church in a Cimabue-esque style (see below) is now in the Museo Bardini.

San Sebastiano dei Bini Via Romana
History The oratory of Santo Spirito was built here in 1287, as was an attached hospital, known as the spedaluzzo, for the use of the poor and pilgrims, being situated on the road to and from Rome. It benefited from the patronage of various members of the Bini family, who lived nearby, most notably by Bernardo di Piero Bini, who enlarged it from around 1490. He is also buried inside, under an altarpiece with panels by many hands, including Pier Francesco Foschi and the Master of Serumido, but with a central panel by Rossello di Jacopo Franchi depicting The Virgin of Humility (see right), stolen in 1931 and recovered on the antiques market 40 years later. The façade and interior date from the 1490 enlargement, and the choir from 1525. The rededication to St Sebastian dates from around this time too. The oratory was home to the Congregation of Abandoned Lasses(?!) from 1561 and then in 1594 the Congregazione della Dottrina Cristiana, organised by Ippolito Galantini. This latter congregation afterwards moved to Via del Palazzuolo, where they became known as the Vanchetoni or Silent Ones. In 1632 the oratory became the first headquarters of the Order of St Philip Neri, who was born nearby and baptised in the church of San Pier Gattolino up the road. In 1744 the complex passed to the Carthusians and in 1774 it became a hospice. It was closed by Napoleon in 1808. Suffering mixed fortunes during the 19th and 20th centuries the oratory was used as a warehouse from 1950. Restoration began in 1996 and the building opened as a museum of sacred art in 2002, containing mainly works already present. Recently restored and re-arranged, I've never found it open. Interior A stripped-looking barrel-vaulted hall with a domed apse. Art highlights Aside from the altarpiece already mentioned, works include a Tobias and the Angel of 1625 by Giovanni Bilivert, a wooden statue of Saint Sebastian carved by Leonardo del Tasso around 1497/1500 and said to have been polychromed by Filippino Lippi, two panels by Filippo Lippi (San Giovanni and Santa Maria Maddalena) and a 'school of Donatello' Crucifix, now attributed to Baccio da Montelupo. (The statue and the two panels, along with the altarpiece mentioned in History above, are said to have been transferred to the church of San Felice in Piazza nearby, but I don't remember seeing them there.) The museum is also said to contain vestments, altar cloths and liturgical silverware from the churches of San Felice in Piazza and San Pier in Gattolino. Opening times Friday-Sunday 3.00 - 6.00 2020 update the above times (from the website of the Piccoli Grandi Musei of Florence) were found to bear no relationship to reality. But they are still being advertised so I'll try again.
Sant’Ilario a Colombaia Via di Sant’Ilario a Colombaia
History As early as 1072 there was a reference to a small oratory here built by French and German pilgrims who travelled the Via Cassia on the way to Rome. Around 1300 a church was built here, dedicated to St Hilary, the Bishop of Poitiers in the 4th century. Originally known as Sant'Ilario alle Fonti, due to a fountain in nearby Via Senese. The name Colombaia (dove-cote) may refer to the large number of pigeons that frequented the hillside, or to a nearby villa. The church served a very large parish, stretching from the hill of San Gaggio to Marignolle and Bobolino, and reaching along the outside of the city walls as far as the slopes of Bellosguardo. Amongst the Florentine families who held the patronage of this church, were the Adimari, the Ghiberti, the Donati and the Quaratesi. Damaged during the siege by Castruccio Castracani in 1325, it was rebuilt in 1457 by the rector Girolamo Bindi. There have been many alterations over the course of the centuries, such as the enlargement of the choir and presbytery. The campanile dates from 1880 and was designed by the architects Tanzi and Barchielli. Extensive restructuring, including the reopening of the portico, part of the original church, took place in 1954. The frescoes in the portico were rediscovered during this work. They are in poor condition. There is a Virgin and Child with Saints, from the early 15th century, and a courtly scene by Stefano d'Antonio (also 15th-century). The lunette above the door dates from the late 14th century. The interior An aisle-less nave, with an arch leading into the presbytery. The pietra serena balustrade dates from 1713, as does the ceiling painted of The Glory of Saint Hilary. The Stations of the Cross on the walls in glazed terracotta are 20th century and by Serafino Ceri of the Cantagallo factory. A wooden crucifix said to have been used by a branch of the Bianchi brotherhood which was wiped out nearby by the plague in 1400 is preserved in the attached oratory.
Santa Chiara Via dei Serragli
History Originally the site of the Spedale di San Giovanni Battista Decollato complex run by a community of Augustinian tertiaries since 1356, known as “di Monna Scotta,” who having suffered several epidemics of plague, was by 1450 reduced to only three or four residents. So, in May 1452, a group of Poor Clares took over, led by Maria degli Albizzi, a Florentine noblewoman, the daughter of Maso di Luca degli Albizzi. Maria devoted herself to a religious vocation, it is said, to make amends for the killing of a servant when, in defence of her honour, she stabbed him with a spindle. By 1470 there were about fifty nuns here, including girls from families like the Acciaiuoli, Bardi, Medici and Strozzi. There were renovations later in the century until, in the 1480s, merchant Jacopo Bongianni, who had two sisters and a niece in the convent, began funding a more comprehensive rebuilding. It is still unclear who the architect was, though the work is reminiscent of Giuliano da Sangallo and so it has been attributed to him or his school, but this attribution remains uncertain. Bongianni left money to the convent in three successive wills, dated 1492, 1497 and 1507, and an act of donation from 1494. These donations coincided with his sisters' terms as abbess. The money was intended to pay for the rebuilding of the church, the high altar, his tomb to be placed in front of it, two side altars and paintings by Lorenzo di Credi and Petro Perugino that were placed on the side altars and surmounted by lunettes from the della Robbia workshop. Bongianni’s letters show him to have been an intensely religious man and a follower of the teachings of Savonarola. The convent was suppressed in 1808 and put to use as a school, before becoming the headquarters of the Arena Goldoni, and being rebuilt as the Teatro Goldoni. The church itself was used an as oratory, with access from the side street, until it was deconsecrated in 1842. From that year the sculptor Pio Fedi used it as a studio, on into the early 1850s. The two stone lions on the pillars either side of the entrance were put there by Fedi. He remodelled the façade and portal, but left the church interior alone, dividing the space for his own uses, a process continued by the present owners, the art publishers Edizioni Polistampa. In 1860 John Charles Robinson, the first curator of the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria & Albert Museum) bought the apse chapel on behalf of the museum for £386, and it was dismantled and shipped to London, where it is currently one of the highlights of the newish Medieval and Renaissance galleries (see below right). The two statues in the niches are, unsurprisingly, Saints Francis and Clare. Interior Original architectural elements, including the nuns' choir, remain visible through the modern additions, evidently, but the site of the removed apse chapel is now a private house and garage. Lost art Two altarpieces which would have faced each other across the nave, and were conceived as part of the same program as the high altar. Firstly The Adoration of the Shepherds by Lorenzo di Credi (1497) (see right), inspired by the Netherlandish composition and colours of the Portinari altarpiece. It also has his favoured pose of the Baby lying on a symbolic bundle of grain. The panel was transferred to the Accademia in 1808, and then to the Uffizi in 1919. Two more works by him for this church, mentioned by Vasari, are untraceable. Pietro Perugino's pleasant, if somewhat densely-populated, Lamentation of 1495 which is now in the Palatine Gallery in the Palazzo Pitti It faced the Lorenzo di Credi across the nave and Vasari said of it that 'the colouring being so lovely and novel that artists expected marvellous results from him'. Both works were topped by della Robbia lunettes which survive (in the Accademia?) A processional cross, with an inscription saying it was made for the convent of Santa Chiara ('probably the one in Florence' says the catalogue) made from silver with plaques of niello work (engraved and enamelled silver plate) is in the Met in New York. Bibliography Warm thanks to Laura Llewellyn for a read of her PhD thesis Art, Community and Religious Women in the Oltrarno, Florence which added much the early history of the convent above.
Santa Elisabetta della Convertite Via del Campuccio
History The Augustinian convent of the Converted Women was so called because it housed nuns who were repentant prostitutes, and perhaps also young women converted from Judaism. Built in 1330 by the Compagnia delle Laudi di Santo Spirito, the convent was enlarged in 1624 by the Grand Duchess Maria Maddalena, mother of Ferdinando II. The house where St Philip Neri was born in 1515 was later attached to it. The convent was suppressed in 1808, and from 1837 has been put to various uses, mostly educational. It was deconsecrated but as there was an orthodox service in progress when I visited in 2012 (see below right) I can only assume that it has been reconsecrated. Interior The deep rear vestibule under the nun's gallery is frescoed with stories of the martyrs by Bernardino Poccetti. There's a painted ceiling by Alessandro Gherardini of the Glory of Saint Mary Magdalene, a small Brunelleschi-like arched square apse and one altar on each side of the nave. Lots of icons. Lost art Sandro Botticelli's The Trinity with Saints Mary Magdalene, John the Baptist, the Archangel Raphael and Tobias of 1491-94 (see right), the main panel from an altarpiece, now in the Courtauld Gallery in London, was probably painted for the high altar here. It needed a clean and didn't really look much like a Botticelli, suggesting considerable workshop involvement. But a recent 3-year restoration prior to the reopening of the Courtauld galleries in 2021 has seen the altarpiece's darkened varnish removed and it now looks fine. A special exhibition in 2023 will detail the restoration work. During the work it was discovered that Tobias and Raphael (depicted in miniature bottom left) were originally fully painted further away behind the cross and so in more correct proportion to the other figures. These original figures were likely the work of Filippino Lippi, then Botticelli's assistant. The altarpiece was commissioned by the Arte dei Medici e degli Speziali (the Guild of Doctors and Pharmacists) which may explain the presence of Tobias, who found a fish which cured his father’s blindness. The four panels in the predella show scenes from the Life of Mary Magdalen, an appropriate subject for the church of a convent for repentant prostitutes. The scenes are The Conversion of the Magdalen, The Feast in the House of Levi, Noli me Tangere, and The Last Moments of Mary Magdalen, and they are now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They were spotted in a dealer's in Florence in 1908 by Herbert Horne, a friend and associate of Roger Fry, who was then employed by the Met in New York. Spurned by the Met trustees they were bought by J.G. Johnson, whose collection later went to the Philadelphia Museum. Soon after Johnson's purchase Bernard Berenson, who'd had a falling out with Fry, told Johnson that he thought that they were not by Botticelli, but by a certain 'Amico di Sandro', an associate of Botticelli of Berenson's invention. He later changed his mind, grudgingly, but only to then say that he now thought them by Botticelli himself, but inferior works. Those guys! Carlo Portelli's Crucifix with the Virgin and Saints is in the Andrea del Sarto Cenacolo Museum at San Salvi.
Santa Felicita Piazza Santa Felicita
History This is a church with ancient origins, but documented first in 972, being sited near what was then Florence's only bridge over the Arno, now where the Ponte Vecchio crosses. From very early on the building was dedicated to Saint Felicity, a 2nd century Roman martyr who, according to legend, is also the mother of seven sons who were martyred. Remains of the early Christian basilica were found in excavations following the mine-explosions set off by the departing Nazis in 1944, two and a half meters down. These were just to the west of the current church, but with the same orientation. The building which had replaced this early basilica was itself deteriorating when it was decided to rebuild it, and an attached Benedictine convent, in 1059/60, the convent being first mentioned then. In 1361 Abbess Costanza de'Rossi installed the nuns' choir and had work done on the roof. This Romanesque church, which can be seen on the Catena map of the late 15th century (see right), lasted through to the drastic renovation of the 18th century, carried out by Ferdinando Ruggieri at the nuns' behest, With the suppressions of 1785 and 1808-10 the church lost its convent and went into a decline, but later became a parish church. Interior A somewhat chunky imitation of Brunelleschi-like pietra serena details on a pale background, created by Ruggieri during the rebuilding from 1736-39 which swept away almost all of the existing art. Aisleless with three chapels on each side and a very sizeable (but inaccessible) transept. The open balcony (coretto) at the back is famously accessed from the corridor from the Palazzo Pitti to the Palazzo della Signoria built by Vasari in 1565. There are also nuns' screens either side of it. Two chapels at the back - the Canigiani and the Capponi mentioned below. The usually-closed (see below) Sacristy contains some fine 14th and 15th century works, mostly moved from the church to make way for later and inferior works. Art highlights Jacopo Pontormo's vibrant, crowded and swirling Deposition of 1525-28, widely thought to be his masterpiece, is in the Capponi Chapel on the right as you enter (see photo below right) which was originally built to designs by Brunelleschi. It's not strictly a deposition as it includes elements of the entombment and there's no cross, but then again there's also no tomb visible. There is a Pontormo drawing which has traces of a ladder top left. This typically-mannerist confusion has helped make this one of the most discussed chapels in renaissance studies, with the painting recently becoming known as a Pieta, or more strictly a Post-Pieta. The figure on the extreme right is said to be Pontormo himself. The vagueness of subject is said to be because the stained glass window (between the lovely Annunciation on the wall to the right, that's the Mary from the Annunciation, right) which depicts The Deposition and The Entombment, was installed before the frescoes were painted and Pontormo would not have wanted to merely repeat its subject matter. The window is the work of Guillaume de Marcillat and is a copy, the original having been removed to the Palazzo Capponi alle Rovinate in the 18th century. Pontormo's fresco of God the Father and the Four Patriarchs in the cupola of the chapel was destroyed during the 18th century rebuilding to enlarge the coretto above. The cupola is said to have been Pontormo's first work in the chapel and drawings exist to give us some idea of how it looked. Four tondi of The Evangelists remain in the pendentives - John and Luke above his altarpiece being by Pontormo, the other two (above the gate) being by his then-apprentice Bronzino. It is thought that the oval Virgin and Child by Pontormo, now also in the Palazzo Capponi alle Rovinate, may have been cut down from an altarpiece painted for this chapel. All parts of the Capponi Chapel have recently undergone restoration, completed in March 2018. The Canigiani chapel on the other side of the entrance also had its dome painting destroyed for the coretto and retains its lunette fresco depicting The Miracle of Our Lady of the Snow by Bernardino Poccetti and an Assumption altarpiece by Andrea del Minga, both from 1589. Three altars along on the right is a spectacular scene looking like it's happening in front of the British Museum, but is actually The Martyrdom of the Seven Maccabee Brothers, begun in 1853 by Antonio Ciseri, and the best of the bad bunch of 19th century paintings here. A Luca della Robbia painted terracotta Virgin and Child group from c.1430-40, previously housed in an external tabernacle under the Vasari Corridor, is now in the sacristy here. Buried here Ludivico Cigoli, the painter, died in Rome in in 1613 and in 1644 his remains were transferred here. The cloister There is an unusual octagonal cloister, built in the 1340 and walled in during the 17th century. The Sacristy (opened by volunteers on Saturdays from 3.30 to 5.30) The sacristy (see right) recently restored and reopened in 2006, is a pleasing small space off the right transept, very Brunelleschi (built by a follower to his design) with white walls, pietra serena details and a deep square apse. Here you'll find a Virgin and Child by Giovanni del Biondo, Santa Felicita and her Seven Children by Neri di Bicci, a Crucifix of 1310 by Pacino di Bonaguida, and the highlight, Taddeo Gaddi's Virgin and Child with Saints James the Elder, John the Baptist, Luke and Philip, with prophets in the finials, a polyptych originally painted for the Guicciardini family, and placed in their Chapel of Saint Luke here. Also two detached frescoes, attributed to Niccolò di Pietro Gerini, either side of the presbytry, an Annunciation and a Nativity, both of c.1390. The Chapter House is all that remains of the Benedictine convent, with a fresco of the Crucifixion by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini, signed and dated Nicolo di Pietro Fiorentino 6 March 1387. The seven virtues by him are in the vault roundels. In 1665 most of the other walls in here were frescoed by Cosimo Ulivelli. It's never been open when I've visited, but Lynne The Ornamentalist did get inside in 2017, after three years and three months of trying, and that's one of her photographs (see right). Lost art The Coronation of the Virgin with Saints (including Felicity at far left and Benedict far right), an altarpiece originally on the high altar here, commissioned by the nuns, along with the then abbess Lorenza de' Mozzi, in 1395, completed in 1401 and signed by Spinello Aretino, Niccolò di Pietro Gerini, and Lorenzo di Niccolò, is now in the Accademia. A panel fragment attributed to Sebastiano Mainardi, of The Virgin and Child, now in the Sant'Onofrio di Fuligno refectory was originally from the convent here. The precociously Raphaelesque Three Archangels and Tobias by Domenico di Michelino is now in the Accademia. A panel painted by Bicci di Lorenzo for the Chapel of St Fredianus is now lost. An illuminated missal from the mid-14th century survives, probably the manuscript bought by Abbess Costanza de'Rossi from the monks at the Badia mentioned in an account book of 1350/58. It's now in the Bodleian Library. One page depicts the martyrdom of Saint Felicity's seven sons (see right). The church in fiction In A Rich Full Death by Michael Dibdin the narrator and the poet Robert Browning take refuge from the rain in Santa Felicita and compare conclusions. The church isn't named but they are disturbed when some Americans of their acquaintance come in to admire Pontormo's Deposition. And this painting is also a recurring motif in Sarah Winman's 2021 novel Still Life which is a winning story of English lives lived well during the late 20th century in Piazza Santo Spirito.
Santa Lucia de' Magnoli Via de' Bardi
History The church was founded next to a pilgrims' ospedale in 1078 by Ugoccione della Pressa, a local miller, and finished by his elder son Màgnolo following the death of Uguccione, and so was later known as 'dei Màgnoli'. Tradition has it that this hospital was where Saint Francis and Saint Dominic met in 1211. Francis is said to have visited the nurses here in that year, commemorated by a tabernacle in via de' Bardi. The hospital was destroyed by the landslide of 1284, from which the church also suffered severe damage, and so was also subsequently known as Santa Lucia delle Rovinate (of the Ruins) this suffix also being applied to other buildings in the area. Around 1246 the church passed to the Cluniac monks of San Miniato al Monte, possibly due to the Magnoli family’s devotion to San Miniato. The Cluniac monks continued here until they were replaced at San Miniato in 1373 by Pope Gregory XI with Olivetan Benedictine monks. In 1421 patronage passed to the Uzzano family, who paid for the decoration of the main chapel, including Domenico Veneziano's high altarpiece (see Lost art below). As part of the dowry of Ginevra Da Uzzano patronage passed to the Capponi family, along with their adjacent palazzo. Reconsecrated on May 3rd 1584. The church was rebuilt again in 1732, with an aisle-less nave. Further restorations since then. The lunette over the door is St Lucy Flanked by Two Angels by Benedetto Buglioni, who headed up a rival studio to the della Robbia and probably trained with them. The church is currently used by a Polish congregation. Interior Aisleless with a bare-walled nave with three pietra serena altars each side and a flat frescoed ceiling. The apse is cross-vaulted and more baroquely decorated. The first altar on the left has a much-restored panel painting of Saint Lucy by Pietro Lorenzetti from around 1320 (see right). The sword in the saint's neck, removed during restoration, can still be seen in outline. It was attributed to Giuliano Pesello, a pupil of Andrea del Castagno, until 1905, and its then attribution to Lorenzetti is still not universally accepted. Over the next altar is a Virgin in Glory with Saints by Empoli. The panel depicting The Virgin and Child with Saints John the Baptist, Sylvester, Martin and Filippo Benizzi, on the high altar is by Agnolo di Donino (although the church caption says Florentine School) and was originally in San Giorgio alla Costa up the hill. It replaced the altarpiece by Domenico Veneziano mentioned below. There is a chapel to the right of the entrance, built in 1714-15 in imitation of the Holy House of Loreto (an example of which also exists in the church of San Pantalon in Venice) which contains a wooden Virgin from Loreto. It also houses The Angel of the Annunciation and The Virgin Annunciate by Jacopo del Sellaio (1473). Lost art highlight The coloured-marble-dominated Santa Lucia altarpiece of c.1442-8 by Domenico Veneziano (see reconstruction below) is one of only two signed works by him to survive. It was commissioned by the heirs of Niccolò da Uzzano for the high later here. Giuseppe Richa, writing his book about the churches in Florence in 1754 says that it's by Andrea del Castagno and that it was by then over the altar in a side chapel, the Bigallo. The main panel depicting The Virgin and Child with Saints Francis, John the Baptist, Zenobius and Lucy (in the Uffizi since 1861, probably when the altarpiece was dismembered) shows his ability to emulate the lushness and sheen of the Netherlandish oil paintings then being acquired by the Medici. The dispersed predella panels depict scenes from the lives of the saints and the Virgin as arranged above in the main panel. The Martyrdom of Saint Lucy is now in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, looking very sparse and stagey, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata and the justly renowned, and oddly young and fit, naked Saint John the Baptist in the Desert are in the National Gallery in Washington, and The Annunciation and A Miracle of Saint Zenobius are in the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge. The central Annunciation panel looks asymmetrical because it has lost 6.3cm from it left-hand edge. The identification of the majority of the predella panels in the 1920s and the subsequent reconstruction of this altarpiece was instrumental in the early 20th century rediscovery of the artist. It was reconstructed for the Italian Art exhibition at the RA in London in 1930 and for one in the Uffizi in 1992. Opening times For services at 5.00 on Saturdays and 12.00 on Sundays Bibliography Divo Savelli Santa Lucia de' Magnoli a Firenze, la chiesa, la Cappella di Loreto, Parrocchia di Santa Lucia de' Magnoli, 2012.
Santa Maria a Ricorboli Via Carlo Marsuppini
A new discovery and hence an incomplete entry, for now, pending my finding and visiting it. History Ricorboli refers to a small village just outside the city walls of Florence. A hermitage with an oratory and a small hospital was documented in the 12th/13th century on the site of the church, patronized by the Mozzi and Ardinghelli families. The oratory was run by Benedictines in the late 14th century and after their suppression by Eugene IV by hermits of St. Augustine. Beginning in 1478 a church was built, which in 1585 was entrusted to a lay brotherhood, called the Compagnia di Ricorboli. This company was suppressed, along with all the other brotherhoods, by Pietro Leopoldo in 1788 , the church passing to parish use. With the increase of the local population, the church needed enlargement, behind the original church, to a project by architect Enrico au-Capitaine, from 1906 to 1926. The original church, which was in front of the current entrance, was demolished in 1930. A year later a tabernacle to the left of the facade was built, incorporating the high altar of the old church. Interior An aisleless nave with two chapels on each side. In a chapel where the left confessional used to be is kept a locally venerated Virgin and Child Enthroned with angels panel fragment from the old church, possibly part of a polyptych, sometimes attributed to Giotto and dated to 1328/33, or to his workshop and dated to c. 1335. Known as the Madonna del Rifugio, it was formerly kept framed in a revetment (see black and white photo right). Modern stained glass windows by the Polloni glassworks, of the Coronation of the Virgin (facade), the Trinity (apse), Angels, Saints and Evangelists (on the sides). Over the side altars are works from the 1920s and 1930s, including a canvas by Baccio Maria Bacci from 1928, showing Pope Pious VII venerating the Madonna del Rifugio, with parish priest Angelo Giorgi and an altar boy. In the background is a view of Florence. Presumably the actual Madonna was once mounted in the the space framed and supported by angels. There's also a Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus, an unusual subject by Gaetano Ciampalini from 1937. Campanile Has a square plan and dates to the original church.
Santa Maria al Pignone Via Felice Cavallotti
History The church's name comes from the name of the local area, a 'pigna' being an old brick pine cone-shaped structure used to moor boats on wharves once to be found nearby. In 1785 the old parish church was suppressed by the Grand Duke Peter Leopold, and this church was built, to designs by Bernardo Fallani, on land owned by Olivetan monks, chosen by the Grand Duke himself. Consecration followed on the 30th of November 1787. The church was restored in 1931, and again in 1972. Interior All that remains of the 18th century structure is the fresco on the presbytery ceiling of the The Assumption, otherwise the interior is now very bare with minimal grey cornice detailing. The Immaculate Conception and Four Saints by Ludovico Mazzanti (1746) came here in 1873. More recently three paintings loaned to the church to fill the other three stone frames are Christ changes the heart of Saint Catherine of Siena by Jacopo Vignali (1631), San Bartolomeo heals the demon-possessed son of the King of the Indies by Fabrizio Boschi (1635) and The Calling of Saint Matthew by Jacopo da Empoli (1620). The oratory To the left of church is the oratory of the Madonna del Rosario built in 1793, as is confirmed by an inscription on the façade, which also bears the name of the man responsible for its building, Vincenzo Boccini, and his family arms. The oratory, unlike the church, retains its 18th century stucco decoration, along with large original tondo paintings and wood panelling on the nave walls. Beside the altar are the tombs of Boccini and his wife Margaret.
Santa Maria del Carmine Piazza del Carmine
this church now has its own page
Santa Monica Via Santa Monaca
History In April 1441 one Luca di Taddeo was visiting female relatives at the Augustinian convent of Santa Monaca (local dialect for Saint Monica) in the town of San Miniato. Finding the premises unsuitable he suggested to the Abbess, Suor Jacopa di Gomberoni da Milano, that she move her community to more suitable lodgings, offering his help. With the added incentive of locally-raging wars she came to live with Luca in December 1441. A convent was established in May 1442, with funds donated by Ubertino de' Bardi, whose wife Caterina, barren for many years, had conceived after beseeching Abbess Jacopa to pray on her behalf. The Abbess and her nuns moved in in January 1443. In July 1444 some nuns from Pistoia arrived to bolster numbers. Work on the church, replacing an earlier chapel began in May 1447, directed and financed by Jacopo di Leonardo de’ Bardi, the cousin and heir of Ubertino, the previous donor. Patronage also came from the Capponi family whose coat of arms appears on the façade above the 15th century doorway. Work was halted when nearby Carmelite friars objected to the new church being too close to their monastery. On 3rd August 1447, in the middle of the night, the friars actually came and demolished the stone door frame of the church. This dispute dragged on until February 1449, after Jacopo de’ Bardi obtained a papal bull from Nicholas V on 1 August 1448, giving permission to complete construction of the church. Extensive rebuilding followed in the 16th century with a new high altar with a Deposition by Giovanni Maria Butteri (1583) and a nun's choir. The ceiling was frescoed around 1700 with The Gloria di San Martino by Cosimo Ulivelli. The complex was suppressed in 1808 and has been put to various uses since. Opening times Currently the church is used for exhibitions and concerts, and the convent as hostel accommodation. Bibliography Many thanks to Laura Llewellyn for a read of her PhD thesis Art, Community and Religious Women in the Oltrarno, Florence which added much the history of the convent above.
Santi Agostino e Cristina Costa Scarpuccia
History The church and monastery here were built by Grand Duchess Christina of Lorraine for discalced reformed Augustinians, hence the dual naming of Augustine and Christina's name saint, Cristina of Bolsena. But building was not begun until 1640, to designs by Bernardino Radi and Gherardo Silvani by which time the Grand Duchess had died. Following the suppression of the order in 1808 the monastery passed into various private hands and was extensively modified in 1817 after having been bought by Angelo Figlinesi. In 1866 it was bought by Philip Schwarzenberg, who created a new facade. Further renovations were made between 1866 and 1873 caused by the enlargement of Costa Scarpuccia. At the start of the 20th century the church was the studio of a sculptor and at the outbreak of WW1 was requisitioned as a warehouse by the army. In 1921, after years suffering division the complex returned to single ownership. It was stripped of all furnishings and made a warehouse with serious alterations, like the demolition of internal steps to make vehicle ramps. Today the church, following building work in 2002, is occupied by smart offices. It consists of a single aisle with three chapels on each side. The scholar and poet Giovanni Bartolommeo Casaregi (no, me neither) was buried in the church. Lost art? The church once contained Saint Augustine by Franceso Petrucci (1660 - 1719), Saint Nicholas of Tolentino by Batista Vanni and a portrait of the Grand Duchess Christina by Santi di Tito. Opening times The church is occupied by businesses.
Santi Vito e Modesto Via Monte Oliveto
History The church was founded in the late 11th century by the Knights of Jerusalem, at which time it was dedicated to the Holy Sepulchre. It was rededicated to Saints Vitus and Modestus in the 15th century and became a parish church. It came under the patronage of the Pitti and Mancelli families, later becoming attached to the brotherhood of the Buonuomini of San Martino. The church was completely rebuilt in 1662 and again in the 19th century. The present building mostly dates from this last rebuilding but the 15th century loggia remains. Interior Inside the church is The Guardian Angel, a painting by Filippo Tarchiani (17th century), and another 17th-century painting, Saint Vitus and his Mentors, perhaps by the workshop of Francesco Curradi, who lived nearby. Also The Martyrdom of Santa Cristina by the 19th-century English painter George Augustus Wallis (see right) who was born in Merton in south-west London. Frescoes have been discovered under the paintings by Tarchiani and Wallis - one from 1391 The Legend of Saint Vitus, perhaps by Jacopo da Firenze, and one from 1577 of The Stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi by an unknown painter. The organ, by Pietro Agati, was acquired in 1811 when the nearby monastery of Monte Oliveto was suppressed and its possessions were sold off. It has recently (2009) been restored.
Santo Spirito Piazza Santo Spirito
this church now has its own page
Saint Mark's Anglican Via Maggio
History Opened for worship in 1881 in a 15th century palazzo at number 18 (said to have Medici connections and to have once been an early home of Machiavelli's family) to attract Anglo-Catholic tourists. This more high-church congregation split from the Anglicans at Holy Trinity in 1877. The interior was altered by its founder Reverend Charles Tooth, from the Tooth Brothers’ brewery family in Burton upon Trent, whose brother Arthur was also a priest and was one of the founders of the high-church movement in England. This work was done with the help of the English Gothic architect George Frederick Bodley, turning the ground floor into a church with a nave, and two aisles, transept and chancel, about 90 feet and seating 400. The upper floors were used to house the chaplain and parish assistants. The church soon attracted English-speaking expats. John Roddam Spencer Stanhope's stencilled decoration is more than a bit Pre-Raphaelite, unsurprisingly, given Stanhope's close associations with Edward Burne-Jones and George Frederic Watts. This decoration suffered serious damage during the 1966 flood. The altar reredos painting is thought to be by C. Jeffreys, but Spencer Stanhope probably designed the structural elements. The premises were extended by the purchase of 16 Via Maggio in 1906, allowing the building of a lady chapel (which now houses the the organ), a sacristy, a bigger vestibule and extra accommodation upstairs. During WWII St. Mark’s was shut down, but left in the care of Father Frederick Bailey, the chaplain, who was arrested and interned for several months in 1944. On his release, he was allowed to return to England. With the arrival of the Allied troops, the church was reopened and services were held by a military chaplain. Father Bailey featured in Alex Preston’s novel In Love and War. The church currently hosts opera and choral performances. The marble statue in the niche by the main door is The Apotheosis of Saint Mark (2007–8) by the American sculptor Jason Arkles.