basilica of santa maria novella tour report

1. Basilica of Santa Maria
Novella, I t a l y
Introduction
Santa Maria Novella, English New St. Mary, Italian Gothic-style
church of the Dominicans in Florence. It was planned by two
Dominican brothers, Sisto and Ristoro and construction
began c. 1278 and was
completed in 1350, except for the facade, which was
completed by Leon Battista Alberti in proto-Renaissance style
(1456–70).
Frescoes painted on the interior walls of the church,
cloister, and chapterhouse are by such Italian masters
of Gothic and early Renaissance painting as Andrea
Orcagna, Andrea da Firenze, Masaccio (The Trinity
fresco), Domenico Ghirlandaio, Filippino Lippi, and
Paolo Uccello. Santa Maria Novella also houses
important early Renaissance works of sculpture by
Filippo Brunelleschi and Benedetto da Maiano.

2. Exterior
Basilica of Santa Maria Novella
Piazza di Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy
Name origin: A Dominican church replaced a smaller 10th
c. church; hence, the name "Novella."
Architects: 1279-1357: Dominican friars, Fra Sisto, Fra
Ristoro, Fra Jacopo Talenti.
1458-1470 facade: Leon Battista Alberti (LAY
on ba TEES ta al BER tee).
Style: 1279-1357: Romanesque
1458-1470: Early Renaissance
Building materials: Green marble of Prato, located a few
kilometers from Florence, which can display
different shades of green, from light green to
almost black, as well as yellow and green
streaks (also used at the Florence
Baptistery and at the church of San Miniato
Religion
Affiliation Catholic
District Archdiocese of Florence
Ecclesiastical or Minor basilica
organizational
status
Year consecrated 1420
Location Florence, Tuscany, Ital
Architecture
Type Church
Style Gothic-Renaissance
Groundbreaking 1279
Completed 14th century

3. Funding the Facade of Santa Maria
Novella
Walking Tours of Florence
Emblazoned across the top of the beautiful facade of the
church of Santa Maria Novella is an inscription:
IOHANES.ORICELLARIUS.PAV.F.AN.SAL.MCCCCLXX
(Giovanni Rucellai. Son of Paolo. Year of Salvation. 1470).
Rucellai’s name derives from the nature of the trade which
was the source of his family’s initial wealth. The family were
once importers of oricello (orchil), a plant which was treated
with ammonia to produce a precious dye used for the
colouring of cloth. The family had originally been called the
Oricellari and it is the Latin form of this name that we see on
the facade. The facade is also adorned with the emblem of
Giovanni Rucellai, which took the form of a sail billowing in
the wind.
History

4. Work on the facade began in 1350, thanks to a bequest by Turino di Baldese,
who had died in 1348. However, the funds ran out with only the lower half
completed. A century later Giovanni Rucellai (1403-81), a member
of a wealthy family of wool merchants, offered to finance the
completion of the facade, on the condition that his name be
incorporated in the design. The church agreed.
The designer of the project was that great all-rounder of the
Renaissance Leon Battista Alberti (1404-72), who also designed the
Rucellai family pile [group of buildings], which lies nearby. The work
was carried out by Giovanni di Bertino between 1458 and 1470.
In designing this church, Leon Battista Alberti (1404-72) takes his cue
from a pre- Gothic medieval design - that of San Miniato al Monte.
Following his Romanesque model, he designs a small, pseudo-
Classical, pediment- capped temple front for the upper part of the
facade and supports it with a broad base of pilaster-enframed arcades
that incorporate the six tombs and three doorways of the extant Gothic
building
. • In the organization of these elements, Alberti takes a long step
beyond the Romanesque planners. The height of Santa Maria Novella
(to the tip of the pediment) equals its width, so that the entire facade can
be inscribed in a square.
• Throughout the facade, Alberti defines areas and relates them to each
other in terms of proportions that can be expressed in simple numerical
ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 2:3, and so on)
. • In his treatise, Alberti uses considerable space to propound the
necessity of such harmonic relationships for the design of beautiful
buildings. Alberti shares this conviction with Brunelleschi, and it is
basically this dependence on mathematics - a belief in the eternal and
universal validity of numerical ratios as the source of beauty - that
distinguishes the work of these two architects from that of their medieval
predecessors.
Architectural Intervention

5. Section & plan
s k e t c h
It is a very large brick structure with a Latin cross plan interior.
Today the church has been opened up into a single level elevation
with a high ceiling, but during the 15th century when Alberti was
alive, the interior was broken up into two levels.
STRUCTURE

6. Various Chapels
Filippo Strozzi Chapel – The Filippo Strozzi Chapel is
situated on the right side of the main altar. The Strozzi Chapel was the
place where 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 Filippino
Lippi depict the lives of Philip the Apostle and James the Apostle, and
also paintings depicting the commission being given to him by them.
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.
•The back wall, has the famous wooden Crucifix by
Brunelleschi, one of his very few sculptures. : Stained glass
window
Cappella Strozzi di Mantova • The Cappella Strozzi di
Mantova is situated at the end of the left transept. The frescoes
were commissioned by Tommaso Strozzi, an ancestor of Filippo
Strozzi, to Nardo di Cione(1350–1357). The frescoes are
inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy: 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 CiThe Redeemer with the
Madonna and Saints
Other Chapels
• Della Pura Chapel
• Rucellai Chapel
• Bardi Chapel
Madonna and child -Duccio di Buoninsegna - Della Pura Chapel

7. Thank you