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The Basilica della Santissima Annunziata (Basilica of the Most Holy Annunciation) is a Renaissance-style, Catholic minor basilica in Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. This is considered the mother church of the Servite Order. It is located at the northeastern side of the Piazza Santissima Annunziata near the city center.
The church was founded in 1250 by the seven original members of the Servite Order. In 1252, a painting of the Annunciation had been begun by a friar Bartolomeo, commissioned by the Servite monks. It is said he despaired about being able to paint a virgin with a beautiful enough face, and fell asleep, only to find the painting completed. This miracle he attributed to an angel. [1] The painting now housed in the church, acquired increasing veneration, such that in 1444 the Gonzaga family from Mantua financed a special tribune. Initially Michelozzo, who was the brother of the Servite prior, was commissioned to build it, but since Ludovico III Gonzaga had a special admiration for Leon Battista Alberti, this latter architect was given the commission in 1469. Alberti's designs were constricted by the pre-existing foundations. Construction was completed in 1481, after Alberti's death. Though the structure was refurbished in Baroque-style in the seventeenth century, the basic scheme of a domed circular space flanked by altar niches is still evident. [2]
The façade of the church was added in 1601 by the architect Giovanni Battista Caccini, imitating the Renaissance-style of Brunelleschi's façade of the Foundling Hospital, which defines the eastern side of the piazza. The building across from the Foundling Hospital, designed by Sangallo the Elder, was also given a Brunelleschian façade in the 1520s.
Pilgrims who came to the church to venerate the miraculous painting often left wax votive offerings, many of them life-size models of the donor (sometimes complete with horses). In 1516, a special atrium was built to house these figures, the Chiostrino dei Voti. By the late 18th century there were some six hundred of these images and they had become one of the city's great tourist attractions. In 1786, however, they were all melted down to make candles.
Pope Alexander VI, in appreciation for the survival of Rome after French occupation, paid homage and gifted a silver effigy to the church. [3]
The Florentine brides traditionally visit the shrine to leave their bouquets.
This church is entered from the Chiostrino dei Voti. The Baroque decoration of the church interior was begun in 1644, when Pietro Giambelli frescoed the ceiling with an Assumption as a centerpiece based on designs by Baldassare Franceschini.
The 1st chapel to right contains a Madonna in Glory by Jacopo da Empoli, with walls frescoed by Matteo Rosselli. The 5th chapel on the right contains a Monument to Orlando de' Medici (1456) by Bernardo Rossellino. The right transept has a small side chapel has a Pietà (1559) by Baccio Bandinelli and graces his tomb.
The chapel-surrounded tribune or choir, known as the Rotonda, was designed in turn by Michelozzo and Alberti between 1444 and 1476. Notable among the chapels is the fifth (aligned to nave axis), which has a crucifix (1594–8) by Giambologna for his tomb, with statues of the "Active and Contemplative Lives" by his pupil Francavilla, saints and angels by Pietro Tacca, [5] and murals by Bernardino Poccetti. The next chapel has a Resurrection (1548–52) by Bronzino with a statue of St Roch attributed to Veit Stoss. The next chapel has a Madonna with Saints by a follower of Perugino.
In the sixth chapel to the left of the nave is a SS Ignatius, Erasmus and Blaise by Raffaellino del Garbo; the next chapel has one of the panels of Annunziata Altarpiece (1507) by Perugino, once at the high altar of the church (the Deposition, begun by Filippino Lippi, is now at the Gallerie dell'Accademia, while other panels are divided between other collections in the world). The altarpiece of the next chapel has a Trinity with Saint Jerome and two saints (c. 1455) by Andrea del Castagno, who also painted the mural of The Vision of St. Julian in the next chapel, called the Feroni chapel. This chapel was elaborately decorated in a baroque fashion by Gianbattista Foggini in 1692. The first chapel just to the left of the entrance has a tabernacle of the Annunciation (1448–52) by Michelozzo and the sculptor Pagno di Lapo Portigiani.
The organ built by Domenico Di Lorenzo da Lucca in 1509–1521 is the oldest in Florence and the third oldest in Italy. Today the titular organist of the church is Simone Stella. The church contains the tomb of the Italian writer Maria Valtorta. A memorial was erected in the church to the painter Giovanna Tacconi Messini by her husband after her death. [6]
The Chiostrino dei Voti [7] was designed by Michelozzo. The center of this small cloister in front of the basilica facade is now sheltered by a glass roof. Baldovinetti painted the first lunette in the chiostro in c. 1460. In about 1476, Rosselli began its decoration with a lunette dedicated to the then blessed Filippo Benizzi, fifth Prior General of the Servites. Further lunettes were added (1509–1510) by Andrea del Sarto. [8]
| Site | Work | Date | Painter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st right | Assumption | 1513–1514 | Rosso Fiorentino |
| 2nd right | Visitation | 1516 | Pontormo [9] |
| 3rd right | Marriage of the Virgin | 1513 | Franciabigio |
| 4th right | Birth of the Virgin | 1513–1514 | Andrea del Sarto |
| 5th right | Voyage of the Magi | 1511 | Andrea del Sarto |
| 1st–5th left | Life of S. Filippo Benizi | 1509–1510 | Andrea del Sarto |
| 6th left | Life of S. Filippo Benizzi | 1476 | Cosimo Rosselli |
| Just left of entrance to church | Nativity | 1460–1462 | Alesso Baldovinetti |
The large cloister, known as the Chiostro Grande or dei Morti, flanking the northwest of the church, contains the famous frescoed lunette depictiong the Madonna del Sacco (1525) by del Sarto.
The Capella di San Luca , which opens off it, has belonged to the artists confraternity or the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno since 1565. Many artists are buried in its vault, including Benvenuto Cellini, Pontormo, Franciabigio, Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli and Lorenzo Bartolini. Inside is Pontormo’s Holy Family (c. 1514) painted for church of St. Ruffillo and murals by Alessandro Allori: Trinity; Vasari: St. Luke paints Madonna; and Santi di Tito: Solomon directs the construction of the temple of Jerusalem. The ten large stucco figures were sculpted by Vincenzo Danti, Montorsoli and others. [10]
Most part of the Cloister of SS. Annunziata is today the seat of Istituto Geografico Militare (IGM). In 2007, in the west part of the cloister occupied by the Istituto, the group found a monumental stair by Michelozzo, previously hidden, an Annunciation attributed to Paolo Uccello,[ citation needed ] and some 'Grottesche' frescoes by Morto da Feltre.[ citation needed ]
Andrea del Castagno or Andrea di Bartolo di Bargilla was an Italian Renaissance painter in Florence, influenced chiefly by Masaccio and Giotto di Bondone. His works include frescoes in Sant'Apollonia in Florence and the painted equestrian monument of Niccolò da Tolentino (1456) in Florence Cathedral. He in turn influenced the Ferrarese school of Cosmè Tura, Francesco del Cossa and Ercole de' Roberti.
Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church.
Jacopo Carucci or Carrucci, usually known as Jacopo (da) Pontormo or simply Pontormo, was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His work represents a profound stylistic shift from the calm perspectival regularity that characterized the art of the Florentine Renaissance. He is famous for his use of twining poses, coupled with ambiguous perspective; his figures often seem to float in an uncertain environment, unhampered by the forces of gravity.
The Basilica di Santa Croce is a minor basilica and the principal Franciscan church of Florence, Italy. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 metres southeast of the Duomo, on what was once marshland beyond the city walls. Being the burial place of notable Italians, including those from the Italian Renaissance such as Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli, as well as the poet Foscolo, political philosopher Gentile and the composer Rossini, it is also known as the Temple of the Italian Glories.
Franciabigio was an Italian painter of the Florentine Renaissance. His true name may have been Francesco di Cristofano; he is also referred to as either Marcantonio Franciabigio or Francia Bigio.
Cosimo Rosselli was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento, active mainly in his birthplace of Florence, but also in Pisa earlier in his career and in 1481–82 in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, where he painted some of the large frescoes on the side walls.
Ridolfo di Domenico Bigordi, better known as Ridolfo Ghirlandaio was an Italian Renaissance painter active mainly in Florence. He was the son of Domenico Ghirlandaio.
Bernardino Poccetti, also known as Barbatelli, was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker of etchings.
Philip Benizi was a general superior of the Order of the Servites, and credited with reviving the order. Pope Leo X recognised his cult 24 January 1516 essentially beatifying him ; and Pope Clement X canonized him as a saint in 1671.
The Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato is the Catholic cathedral of Genoa, northern Italy; its decoration employed the major baroque studios and artists in Genoa in the 17th century.
Andrea del Sarto was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early Mannerism. He was known as an outstanding fresco decorator, painter of altarpieces, portraitist, draughtsman, and colorist. Although highly regarded during his lifetime as an artist senza errori, his renown was eclipsed after his death by that of his contemporaries Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.
Nativity of the Virgin is a fresco painting by Andrea del Sarto in the Chiostro dei Voti of Santissima Annunziata in Florence. It is signed and dated in 1514, though most of the work on it is thought to have been carried out in 1513.
The church and convent of the Santissima Annunziata is a Baroque-style, Roman Catholic church located on Piazza de Servi #4, Pistoia, region of Tuscany, Italy. The convent presently functions as a warehouse. The church is down via Laudesi from the San Desiderio, and via Piazza de Servi, From San Giovanni Decollato.
The Chiostro della Scalzo or is a cloister in Florence, Italy that originally led to a chapel once belonging to a religious company known as the Compagnia del diciplinati di San Giovanni Battista or della Passione di Cristo. The term "scalzo" makes reference to the barefoot brother who carried the Cross during its public processions.
Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria is an oil-on-panel painting of the sacra conversazione genre, executed c. 1512–1513 by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea del Sarto. It was acquired by the imperial gallery in Prague in 1749 and now is in the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden, Germany.
Assumption of the Virgin is a fresco by Rosso Fiorentino in the Chiostro dei Voti of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata in Florence.
Portrait of a Young Woman is a c. 1510 oil on canvas painting, usually attributed to Rosso Fiorentino, though Giovanni Larciani has also recently been suggested as its artist. It is now in the Uffizi in Florence. It is usually thought to be an early work by Rosso, produced before the frescos of the Chiostrino dei Voti at Santissima Annunziata, Florence, though its sharp style makes it hard to give a definite attribution to Rosso.
The San Ruffillo Madonna is a fresco fragment by Pontormo, executed around 1514, originally located in the San Ruffillo church in Florence.
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The Madonna del Sacco is a fresco painting created in 1525 by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea del Sarto in the Chiostro Grande adjacent to the Basilica of Santissima Annunziata in Florence.
11.^ Silvia Guagliumi.Antonio da San Gallo il Vecchio. ISBN 979 - 12 - 210 - 6439 - 1 Milano, Giugno 2024
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