Basilica of Santa Maria Novella

About

Santa Maria Novella is a Dominican church in Florence. It is considered the most important Romano-Gothic church in Tuscany and is a World Heritage Site. Its construction started in 1290 and it took almost 200 years to be completed. It was consecreated in 1420. Its distinctive façade has geometric patterns made from white and green marble. The Florentine Renaissance architect Leon Battista designed the upper part of the façade, finished in 1470. Its two most famous artworks are Giotto's Crucifix, that changed the way that Christ had been represented in the cross for two centuries, and Massacio's Holy Trinity, the first monumental Renaissance painting to utilize linear perspective. Its building and decoration was financed by rich Florentine families, several of which were granted the privilege of funerary chapels inside the church.

In 1221, the Florence Diocese assigned to John of Salerno (Dominican) [ it ] the oratory of Santa Maria delle Vigne ("by the vineyards"), which at the time was surrounded by agricultural fields and outside the city walls. The Dominicans decided to build a new church, which was named Santa Maria Novella ('New'), as well as an adjoining cloister. The church was consecrated in 1420 by Pope Pope Eugene IV. In October 1919, Pope Benedict XV elevated it to the rank of a minor basilica

Construction began around 1276 and took close to 200 years, when the upper part of the façade, designed by the renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti, was completed in 1470, although the right scroll was covered in marble only in 1920.

The initial architects may have been the Dominican friars Sisto de Florencia, Jacopo Pasavanti and Ristoro de Campi. The Romanesque - Gothic bell tower and the sacristy were completed under the supervision of Friar Iacopo Talenti in 1360. A series of gothic arcades were added to the façade, which were intended to contain sarcophagi. The Renaissance Florentine painter Domenico Ghirlandaio is buried in one of them.

Santa Maria Novella's Romano-Gothic facade is considered one of the most important architectural works of the Florentine Renaissance, even though the lower section was started in 1350 and was finally completed in 1920.

In 1350, the lower front section was covered in white marble and what is commonly called green "marble" from Prato, which is really the green rock serpentinite and is therefore called ' serpentino' marble. The work is believed to have been financed by Turino del Baldese. [ citation needed ] Its design was certainly influenced by the façade of the Baptistery of Saint John ; believed by scholars to have been built in the 11th or 12th century.

Progress was interrupted for over one hundred years until the Florentine architect Leon Battista Alberti was commissioned by the wool merchant Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai to design the upper part of the façade as well as other additions in the lower section, a work that was completed in 1470.

Alberti wanted to bring the ideals of classically inspired proportion and detailing to bear on the design, while also creating harmony with the existing lower part of the façade.

In ascending vertical order, Alberti's contributions include:

- A broad frieze decorated with squares, inscribed with the name of the patron: Iohan(n)es Oricellarius Pau(li) f(ilius) An(no) Sal(utis) MCCCCLXX ('Giovanni Rucellai son of Paolo in the year of salvation 1470').

- A pediment with a round window, with the emblem of the Dominican order. The pediment has four striped pilasters.

- Large, S-shaped scrolls on the corners of each pediment, innovative elements which had no precedent in arquitecture. They solved a longstanding architectural problem of how to elegantly integrate a wide base to a narrower upper section. Variations inspired by Alberti's scrolls can be found in churches all over Italy.

The church interiors were conditioned to host the Council of Florence (1439–1441), as the church was were all the sessions where held.

Commissioned in 1567 by Grand Duke Cosimo I, Giorgio Vasari conducted the first remodeling of the church, which included removing its original choir screen and adding six chapels between the columns, which required shortening the Gothic windows.

Between 1575 and 1577, the Gaddi chapel was built by Giovanni Antonio Dosio. Further renovations took place between 1858 and 1860 led by the architect Enrico Romoli.

A major restoration was carried out in 1999 in preparation for the Great Jubilee of 2000 and a subsequent restoration of the façade was carried out from April 2006 to March 2008.

An armillary sphere (on the left) and an astronomical quadrant with gnomon (on the right) were added to the end blind arches of the lower façade by Ignazio Danti, astronomer of Cosimo I, in 1572. The armilliary sphere was intended to determine the vernal equinox and this was observed for the first time publicly in 1574. The gnomon threw shadows on the astronomical quadrant to tell the time according to the transalpine, Italian and Bohemian methods.

Thanks to these instruments, the astronomer was able to calculate exactly the discrepancy between the true solar year and the Julian calendar, then still in use since its promulgation in 46 BC. By demonstrating his studies in Rome to Pope Gregory XIII, he helped obtain the realignment of the date of Easter and the promulgation of the new Gregorian calendar. [ citation needed ]

Danti also placed a hole in the south facing circular window at a height of 21 metres (69 ft) and installed a meridian line on the floor of the church as a better method of determining the equinoxes than the armilliary sphere. However, the construction was not completed due to the death of his patron, the Grand Duke Cosimo I.

- Astronomical instruments in the façade