Santa Maria degli Angeli (St. Mary of the Angels) is the former church of a now-defunct monastery of that name in Florence, Italy. It belonged to the Camaldolese order, which was a reformed branch of the Benedictines. The order is based on the hermitage which was founded near Arezzo in 1012 by the hermit St. Romuald at Camaldoli, hence the name. Very little of the medieval building exists today.
When purchased by the Camaldolese around 1294 the land was owned by the Alluodi family. The monastic complex eventually had a small church, cells, a refectory and a meeting room. A scriptorium was established by 1332.
The Camaldoli monastery was a major center of studies in the early Renaissance and its scriptorium was a noted producer of manuscripts of high quality. It also produced work that could bring revenue to support the monastery. Some of the monks were skilled miniaturists. [1] Many of the illustrations from its work are found in art collections around the world. [2]
The late High Gothic painter, Lorenzo Monaco, was a monk at Camaldoli for a time, while he tested his vocation, but ultimately he left. Nevertheless, he executed a series of artworks for the Camaldoli monastery and other Camaldolese houses, both during his time in the Order and afterwards. [3] The Camaldoli church once housed a series of artworks now located elsewhere, such as by Lorenzo Monaco’s Coronation of the Virgin , now in the Uffizi.
One of the abbots was theologian Ambrose Traversari who assisted Niccolò de' Niccoli in acquiring the manuscripts that would later make up the library at San Marco, the first public library in Europe. [4]
The so-called Rotonda degli Scolari, partially built by Filippo Brunelleschi, is part of the complex. In 1434, Brunelleschi was commissioned by the Medici family to design an oratory for the monastery. It was located at the corner of the property, along the outer wall. Though construction was rapid, it was halted due to funding problems in 1437, when the money for the church was seized by the Florentine government to help finance a war against the neighboring city of Lucca. In 1503, the shell was given a simple wooden roof, but the structure deteriorated rapidly. The building, which was used for various purposes, was patched up and given its modern appearance in the 1930s. It was given to the university and thus its more modern name Rotonda degli Scolari ("Scholars' Rotunda").
Copies of original plans and descriptions give us a good indication of Brunelleschi's intentions. The building was to have an octagonal, domed space at its core, surrounded by eight ancillary spaces. [6] Though the outside - as it was restored - has little similarity with what Brunelleschi intended, on the inside one can see how some of the original spaces were arranged.
Ambrogio Traversari, also referred to as Ambrose of Camaldoli, was an Italian monk and theologian who was a prime supporter of the papal cause in the 15th century. He is honored as a saint by the Camaldolese Order.
Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance architecture followed Gothic architecture and was succeeded by Baroque architecture and neoclassical architecture. Developed first in Florence, with Filippo Brunelleschi as one of its innovators, the Renaissance style quickly spread to other Italian cities. The style was carried to other parts of Europe at different dates and with varying degrees of impact.
Filippo di ser Brunellesco di Lippo Lapi, commonly known as Filippo Brunelleschi and also nicknamed Pippo by Leon Battista Alberti, was an Italian architect, designer, goldsmith and sculptor. He is considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture. He is recognized as the first modern engineer, planner, and sole construction supervisor. In 1421, Brunelleschi became the first person to receive a patent in the Western world. He is most famous for designing the dome of the Florence Cathedral, and for the mathematical technique of linear perspective in art which governed pictorial depictions of space until the late 19th century and influenced the rise of modern science. His accomplishments also include other architectural works, sculpture, mathematics, engineering, and ship design. Most surviving works can be found in Florence.
The Pazzi were a powerful family in the Republic of Florence. Their main trade during the fifteenth century was banking. In the aftermath of the Pazzi conspiracy in 1478, members of the family were banished from Florence and their property was confiscated; the family name and coat-of-arms were permanently suppressed by order of the Signoria.
Florence Cathedral, formally the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower, is the cathedral of Florence, Italy. It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally completed by 1436, with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink, bordered by white, and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.
Lorenzo Monaco was an Italian painter and miniaturist of the late Gothic to early Renaissance age. He was born Piero di Giovanni. Little is known about his youth, apart from the fact that he was apprenticed in Florence. He has been considered the last important exponent of the Giotto style, before the Renaissance revolution that came with Fra Angelico and Masaccio.
The Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona, commonly called Camaldolese, is a monastic order of Pontifical Right for men founded by Saint Romuald. Its name is derived from the Holy Hermitage of Camaldoli, high in the mountains of central Italy, near the city of Arezzo. Its members add the nominal letters E.C.M.C. after their names to indicate their membership in the congregation. Apart from the Roman Catholic monasteries, in recent times ecumenical Christian hermitages with a Camaldolese spirituality have arisen as well.
Giuliano da Sangallo was an Italian sculptor, architect and military engineer active during the Italian Renaissance. He is known primarily for being the favored architect of Lorenzo de' Medici, his patron. In this role, Giuliano designed a villa for Lorenzo as well as a monastery for Augustinians and a church where a miracle was said to have taken place. Additionally, Giuliano was commissioned to build multiple structures for Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X. Leon Battista Alberti and Filippo Brunelleschi heavily influenced Sangallo and in turn, he influenced other important Renaissance figures such as Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, his brother Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, and his sons, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and Francesco da Sangallo.
The Pazzi Chapel is a chapel located in the "first cloister" on the southern flank of the Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. Commonly credited to Filippo Brunelleschi, it is considered to be one of the masterpieces of Renaissance architecture.
The Basilica di Santo Spirito is a church in Florence, Italy. Usually referred to simply as Santo Spirito, it is located in the Oltrarno quarter, facing the square with the same name. The interior of the building – internal length 97 m (318 ft) – is one of the preeminent examples of Renaissance architecture.
The decade of the 1410s in art involved some significant events.
Piazza del Duomo is located in the heart of the historic center of Florence. It is one of the most visited places in Europe and the world and in Florence, the most visited area of the city. The square contains Florence Cathedral with the Cupola del Brunelleschi, the Giotto's Campanile, the Florence Baptistery, the Loggia del Bigallo, the Opera del Duomo Museum, and the Arcivescovile and Canonici's palace. The west zone of this square is called Piazza San Giovanni.
Silvester of Valdiseve (1278–1348) was a medieval monk. He has been beatified by w the Roman Catholic Church. Silvester was christened Ventura and lived in Florence. He was involved in the processing of wool until the age of 40 when he became a monk. He entered the Camaldolese monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, also located in Florence. There, he worked as a cook.
The Coronation of the Virgin is a 1414 tempera-on-panel polyptych by the Italian late Gothic artist Lorenzo Monaco, centred on the subject of the Coronation of the Virgin. Once in the Camaldolese monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, it is now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It is dated February 1413 which, in the Florentine calendar, corresponded to 1414.
The Monastery of St. Mary of the Angels was a monastery of the Camaldolese Order in Florence, Italy.
The Palazzo Giugni, also called the Palazzo Firenzuola, is a late-Renaissance or Mannerist architecture palace designed by Bartolomeo Ammanati, and located on Via degli Alfani #48 in the quartiere San Giovanni of Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. It is located down the street from the Brunelleschi's church of Santa Maria degli Angeli.
The Santa Croce Crucifix is a polychrome wood sculpture by Donatello, perhaps from c.1406-1408, or 1409–10. If the former is the correct dating, then Donatello was a young artist working in Lorenzo Ghiberti's workshop and beginning to get his own commissions. It is now in the Cappella Bardi di Vernio, just off the left transept of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy.
In architecture, the scarsella is a small apse with a rectangular or square plan which protrudes outside the main structure. The term scarsella, in ancient Florentine, means "purse", in particular the leather purse for money.
The Santa Maria degli Angeli Crucifixion is a fresco lunette by Andrea del Castagno, created c. 1455, now in the Museo del Cenacolo di Sant'Apollonia in Florence. At far left and right are Romuald and Benedict of Nursia. It was originally sited in the cloister of the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence, where several authors wrote of seeing it, including the anonymous Gaddiano and Vasari, with the latter mentioning it in both editions of his Lives of the Artists as "at the top of cloister over the garden". Giuseppe Richa wrote that it was rediscovered by a Camaldolese monk of the monastery. Milanesi, Cavalcaselle and Crowe did not judge it to be an autograph work, perhaps since they saw it in a poorly-lit setting, but it is now held to be an autograph work. Its dating is uncertain – Salmi and Horster place it late in his career, which is the majority opinion.
43°46′28.29″N11°15′39.15″E / 43.7745250°N 11.2608750°E
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