Close to the railway station, and a short way west from the cathedral and S. Lorenzo, is the church of [Santa Maria Novella], facing the piazza of the same name, adorned with two large obelisks of Serravezza Mischio marble, crowned with Florentine lilies in bronze, by G. Bologna, 1608.
This church, standing south and north, was commenced in 1221 and finished in 1371. The façade was designed by L. Alberti, and erected at the expense of G. Rucellai, whose name is inscribed on the frieze, “Joannes Orcellarius, 1470.” Affixed to it are gnomonic instruments, made by Ignazio Dante in 1573. In the interior, the fresco over the principal door is after the Lippi school. The crucifix is by a pupil
of Giotto, Puccio Capanna. On the wall to the right of the door is a remarkable fresco, a Trinity, by Masaccio; opposite is a fresco attributed to Gaddi. But the most interesting objects are all at the northern or apsidial end of the church. At the extremity of the east or right transept, up some steps, is the [Rucellai Chapel]. On the reredos of the altar is the Madonna painted by Cimabue, considered his masterpiece. [ Florence: S. Maria Novella—
Ghirlandaio—Brunelleschi.] The walls of the chancel, or recess occupied by the high altar, are covered with exquisite paintings in fresco by D. Ghirlandaio, nearly all representing scenes from Scripture. The stalls are by B. d’Agnola, and the windows by G. Fiorentino. In the chapel on the left, or west from this, the Cappella Gondi, is the famous wooden [Crucifix by Brunelleschi]. A curtain is before it. At the end of the W. transept, up some steps, is the Strozzi chapel, with frescoes by A. Orcagna and his brother Nardo, representing the Day of Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. The open door at the foot of the steps leads into the sacristy, where, immediately on one side of the door, is a beautiful terra-cotta basin, by L. Robbia; and, on the other side, one of marble by G. Fortini. A large door in the west, or left aisle, opens into the cloister called the Chiostro Verde, because the frescoes on the walls, by Paolo Uccello, 1390-1470, and Dello Delli, 1401, are painted in green. Here the keeper, for a few sous, opens the door leading into the Cappella degli Spagnuoli, designated thus from having been used by the attendants of Eleonora de Toledo, wife of Cosmo I. The ceiling and the left wall are covered with admirably conceived and executed frescoes by Taddeo Gaddi, while those on the right wall are by Simone Memmi. Adjoining is the Chiostro Grande, ornamented with 52 frescoes, by Cigoli, Allori, Tito, Poccetti, and other artists of the 15th and 16th cent., illustrative of the history of the Dominicans, with views of Florence in the background. [ Florence: Spezeria.] At No. 16 Via della Scala is the entrance to the Spezeria, or pharmacy of the convent, long noted for its perfumes, as well as for a red liquor called Alkermes, a specialty of Florence, resembling in taste the liqueur made at the Chartreuse, near Grenoble, only sweeter. It is also made and sold at the [Certosa] (see page 250). The chapel contains some beautiful frescoes, illustrative of the last hours of our Saviour, by Spinello Aretino.
[The Santissima Annunziata], 268. [San Marco], 270. [Picture-Gallery of San Marco], 270. [Academy of Fine Arts], 271. [Galleria dei Lavori in Pietre Dure], 273. North-east side of [Plan].
Florence. The Annunziata—Narthex Frescoes.
From the N.E. end of the Cathedral the street, the Via dei Servi, leads straight to the Piazza and Church of the [Santissima Annunziata]
the only church in Florence open the whole day. All the others close at 12; but most of them re-open about 2 or 3 P.M. On the right side of the Piazza is the Spedale degli Innocenti, a foundling hospital designed by Brunelleschi, and ornamented in 1470, by Andrea della Robbia, with pretty terra-cotta figures over the columns of the arcade. In the centre of the square is an equestrian statue of the Grand Duke Ferdinand I., by Bologna, in 1608, and two bronze fountains by Pietro Tacca. The Church of the Annunziata was built in 1250 by the Order of the Servi di Maria. At the entrance is a [narthex] or vestibule decorated with admirable frescoes, protected by glass. To the right, on entering, an Assumption by Il Rosso, 1515; then follow a Visitation, by J. Pontormo, 1516, pupil of A. del Sarto; a Marriage of the Virgin, by Franciabigio, 1513; a Birth of the Virgin, by Andrea del Sarto, as also the next picture, an Adoration of the Magi, both among his greatest works; a Nativity by A. Baldovinetti. The next five are by A. del Sarto; Children being Healed by touching the Dress of the Servite Filippo Benizzi; a Dead Child recalled to life by touching the Bier of Filippo; the Cure of a Woman possessed of a Demon; Men destroyed by Lightning who had insulted Filippo. He parts his Cloak with a Beggar. By Rosselli: Filippo assumes the habit of the Order. In the narthex is also the tomb of Andrea del Sarto (died 1606), with bust by Caccini.
The design of the interior of the church is by Ant. da S. Gallo. Gherardo Silvani added the marble decorations. The pictures between the windows are almost all by C. Ulivelli. On each side of the aisle are five chapels, and at the termination of the aisle are two short transepts and a circular tribuna designed by Alberti, covered with a cupola painted by B. Franceschini and Ulivelli. In the right transept is the tomb of Bandinelli, with a Pieta by himself. Immediately behind the high altar, adorned with a ciborium or canopy by B. Agnolo (1543), is the Cappella del Soccorso, with the tomb of Gian Bologna (d. 1608), who constructed this chapel for himself, and ornamented it with some of his best works. Under the organ in the second chapel is an Assumption by Perugino. In the third chapel is a Crucifixion by Stradano, his best work. In the fourth, a copy of Michael Angelo’s “Judgment Day,” by Allori. Next it, and to the left of the main entrance, is the chapel and shrine of the Annunziata, built in 1445, by Michelozzi, and lighted by forty-one silver lamps and one gold lamp glittering among costly polished stones. Over the altar is an Annunciation in fresco by Pietro Cavallini (d. 1364), said to have been done by angels. [ Florence: The Annunziata—
Sacred Picture.] This picture is shown only once a year; but a duplicate
of it, also by Cavallini, is in San Marco, on the wall to the right on entering. Over the altar is an “Ecce Homo,” by An. del Sarto, in silver. Adjoining is the cloister built by S. Pollaiolo. Over the door opening into the church is a “Holy Family,” by A. del Sarto, a production in the highest style of excellence, called the Madonna del Saco, as Joseph is seen in the background seated on a sack. The other fresco paintings in the cloister are by Poccetti, A. Mascagni, M. Rosselli, and V. Salimbeni (1542-1650), all displaying rich colouring without gaudiness. In this cloister is also the chapel of St. Luke, with the fresco of “St. Luke painting the Virgin,” over the altar, is by Vasari, while those on the walls are by Bronzino, Pontormo, and Santi di Tito.