Cappella dei Principi

About

The Cappella dei Principi ('Chapel of the Princes') is the mausoleum of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany and their families and is part of the museum complex of the Medici Chapels, adjacent to the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence.

History: The chapel was based on the idea that the Grand Duke Cosimo II de' Medici wanted to create a monument for a family tomb. Work began on the tomb under Grand Duke Ferdinando I de' Medici, who appointed the architect and sculptor Matteo Nigetti in 1604, based on a design by Don Giovanni de' Medici, brother of the Grand Duke himself. Nigetti completed the mausoleum in 1640. He was assisted by the architects Alessandro Pieroni and Don Giovanni de' Medici. It has a large dome and marble interior. The octagonal room is 28 metres (92 ft) wide and is surmounted by a dome which reaches a height of 59 metres (194 ft), the second most majestic in the city after Filippo Brunelleschi's dome. During the first half of the eighteenth century, the Italian noblewoman Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici financed the construction of the large windows and cupola, and the internal decoration of the vault, which was executed by the painter Pietro Benvenuti between 1828 and 1837...