Church of San Lorenzo and Chapel of Medici description and photos - Italy: Florence (Topic)

Church of San Lorenzo and Chapel of Medici description and photos - Italy: Florence. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is San Lorenzo and Chapel of Medici.

Photo and description

The Church of San Lorenzo is the oldest church in the city, since it was consecrated by St. Ambrose in 393. In 1060 it was rebuilt in the Romanesque style. The church owes its modern appearance to Brunelleschi (1423). Expressive and noble in its antiquity, the facade is devoid of marble cladding (Michelangelo's project for cladding the church with marble was never implemented).

In the interior of the church, attention is drawn to two bronze pulpits by Donatello, `` Annunciation '' Filippo Lippi in the Martelli Chapel and two sacristy in the transepts. The Medici Chapel building - a kind of Medici family crypt - rises behind the church of San Lorenzo. The entrance leads into a spacious, low-ceilinged hall decorated by Buontalenti. Here is the tomb of Cosimo the Elder, the tomb of Donatello, tombs of Lorraine and other great dukes. A modest stone slab is installed on the grave of the founder of the Medici dynasty - Cosimo the Elder.

From here you can climb to the large Chapel of Princes, which was conceived and implemented in large part by the architect Nigetti (with the participation of Buontalenti). Its construction began in 1602 and was completed only in the 18th century. The chapel, representing an octagon in plan, is completely finished with marble and solid baroque stone. Above the plinth, decorated with the coats of arms of sixteen cities of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, there are six arched sarcophagi of the Grand Dukes: Cosimo III, Francesco I, Cosimo I, Ferdinand I, Cosimo II and Ferdinand II; on two sarcophagi are statues of the dead, made by the sculptor Takka. The corridor connects the Chapel of Princes with the New Sacristy.

The old sacristy was designed by Brunelleschi and decorated by Donatello. The New Sacristy was created in 1520 by Michelangelo, who is also the author of the Medici tombs located here - Giuliano, Duke of Nemours, and Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino. The sarcophagus of the first is guarded by naked allegorical figures of Day and Night, the sarcophagus of the second - Evening and Morning.

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Topic: Church of San Lorenzo and Chapel of Medici description and photos - Italy: Florence.