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Collezione Firenze
Santa Maria Novella
Santa Maria Novella basilica is the first one you come across in Florence if you arrive by train at the station that bears its name. It is a Gothic church built between 1279 and 1357 by Dominican monks, with beautiful stained-glass windows. The lovely Renaissance façade in the homonymous square, completed by Leon Battista Alberti in 1470 with typical polychrome marbles, is in the Florentine Romanesque style. Next to it, in the charming square, you can admire the porticoes of the Dominican monastery. On the pediment of the church, we find the sails, the emblem of Giovanni Rucellai, the benefactor who financed it. In the center of the pediment, there is the emblem of the district with the “Sol invictus” with the face of Jesus.
Facts & Trivia
Inside, there is a precious crucifix by Brunelleschi, who sculpted it in response to what he considered Donatello’s too simple one. Brunelleschi’s Christ is an example of Renaissance homo ad quadratum. The interior houses famous works by artists such as Lippi, Masaccio, and Ghirlandaio.
