Churches & Cathedrals

This beautiful church was built by the Russian community of Florence which played a signficant role in the development and history of the city. It is officially called the Orthodox Russian church of the Nativity of Christ and Saint Nicholas in Florence.

The church was built between 1899 and 1903 by the talented Russian architect Michail Préobraženskij. It has five onion-shaped domes and houses tall figures of Orthodox saints that stand among the colored mural paintings and byzantine icons.

It is possible to visit the church by appoitment. Call Padre Georgij Blatinskij at +39 055-490148 for more information.

The Basilica of San Miniato al Monte is one of the oldest churches in Florence and is frequently called the finest Romanesque basilica in all of Italy. The church as we know it today was started around 1018 and took over one hundred years to complete. St. Minias was possibly from Armenia and believed to have been martyred around 250 (he was beheaded during the anti-Christian persecutions of the Emperor Decius and was said to have picked up his head, crossed the Arno and walked up the hill of Mons Fiorentinus to his hermitage and buried on this hillside). The church is in a wonderful state of preservation and there are several important works inside, including a tabernacle attributed to Rossellino, the tomb of the Cardinal of Portugal with works by Rossellino, Della Robbia and others, frescoes by Agnolo Gaddi, and an amazing fresco cycle of the life of St. Benedict by Spinello Aretino, to name just some of them. Click here for more photos.

There has been a church on the site of San Lorenzo since 393, making it one of the oldest churches in Florence. The church as it appears now, however, is the result of a renovation begun in 1421 by Giovanni di Bicci de'Medici, who commissioned a new design for the church from Filippo Brunelleschi. This began a relationship between the Medici family and San Lorenzo that lasted for more than a century. The family lavished money on the church with a variety of projects, including the Medici Chapel.

Despite its unfinished facade, the interior of San Lorenzo is a masterpiece of Renaissance rationality and moderation. An essay in gray and white, its pietra serena columns and archways contrast with the lightness of the walls and windows, making the architecture of the church extremely legible. The entire church is suffused by an even and harmonious light adding to the sense of elegance and simplicity.

To the left of the central apse you can enter the Old Sacristy (Sagrestia Vecchia), also designed by Brunelleschi and finished in 1428. This cubic room topped with a hemispherical dome is a wonderful example of early Renaissance preoccupation with proportion and geometry. The cohesive sculptural decoration in the room was for the most part executed by Donatello, including the red and blue frieze of putti and the polychrome stucco roundels depicting the Four Evangelists. In the center of the room, beneath a marble table, is the tomb of Giovanni di Bicci and his wife Piccarda Bueri, while the remains of Cosimo il Vecchio's children, Giovanni and Piero are housed in a porphyry and bronze sarcophagus set into the wall.

San Lorenzo houses several treasures of Renaissance painting and sculpture. Donatello's last works, two bronze pulpits from around 1460, are located on either side of the central crossing of the church. A wonderful Annunciation by Filippo Lippi is tucked away in the Martelli Chapel, located to the right of the Old Sacristy. The Martelli chapel also houses a sarcophagus by Donatello and a nineteenth-century monument marking the sculptor's burial place. Other significant paintings include Rosso Fiorentino's 1523 Marriage of the Virgin and Bronzino's Martyrdom of St. Lawrence of 1565-69.

Admission charge for tourists to enter the church is €2.50. Detailed brochures in several languages are provided inside the entrance and free guided tours are also available. Visiting hours are from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., closed on Sundays and holy days (ticket office closes at 5:00 p.m.). Information available at 055 2728487 or at sanlorenzo@operadarte.net.

The Great Synagogue (Tempio Maggiore) was built between 1874 and 1882. The architects were Mariano Falcini, Professor Vincente Micheli, and Marco Treves who built the structure in the Spanish-Moresco style.

Layers of travertine and granite alternate create a striped effect on the facade. Old photographs show bold red and beige stripes, but the bold colors of the stone have faded over time, leaving a more mottled effect.

The overall form of the synagogue is the cruciform plan of Hagia Sophia. The corner towers are topped with horseshoe-arched towers themselves topped with onion domes in the Moorish Revival style. Three horseshoe arches form the main entrance and above them rise tiers of ajimez windows with their paired horseshoe arches sharing a single column.

Inside the building the walls are almost completely covered with colored designs in Moorish patterns. The interior mosaics and frescoes inside are by Giovanni Panti. Giacomo del Medico designed the great arch.

During World War II Fascist troops used the synagogue as a vehicle garage. In August 1944 retreating German troops worked with Italian Fascists to destroy the synagogue, but the Italian resistance managed to defuse most of the explosives. Only a limited amount of damage was done. The synagogue was restored after the war. It was restored again after damage by massive flooding in 1966.

The synagogue has been widely admired, and the 1892 Eutaw Place Temple of Temple Oheb Shalom in Baltimore, Maryland, represents a replica.

Santa Maria del Carmine is a church of the Carmelite Order. It is famous for its Brancacci Chapel which houses magnificent Renaissance frescoes by Masaccio and Masolino da Panicale, later finished by Filippino Lippi.

The church, dedicated to the Beatæ Virginis Mariæ de monte Carmelo, began to be built in 1268 as part of the Carmelite convent, which still exists today. Of the original edifice Some Romanesque-Gothic remains of the original structure can still be seen on the sides of the church. The complex was enlarged once in 1328 and again in 1464, when the capitular hall and the refectory were added.

Renovated again in 16th-17th centuries, the church was damaged by a fire in 1771 and rebuilt internally in 1782. The façade, like many other Florentine churches, remained unfinished. The fire did not touch the sacristy and fortunately many artworks survived, including the stories of St. Cecilia attributed to Lippo d'Andrea and the marble monument of Pier Soderini by Benedetto da Rovezzano. The vault of the nave has a trompe-l'oeil fresco by Domenico Stagi.

The Bracacci Chapel also survived the fire and was also restored due to the intervention of a Florentine noblewoman who firmly opposed the covering of the frescoes. The Chapel is home to famous frescoes by Masaccio and Masolino, considered the first masterworks of the Italian Renaissance. Masaccio's master, Masolino, commissioned by a wealthy merchant, Felice Brancacci, began work on the chapel in 1425 but the project was soon taken over by his pupil whose treatment of figures in space made the frescoes among the most important to have come out of the Early Renaissance. The scenes by Masaccio are the Expulsion from Paradise, The Tribute Money St Peter Healing a Lame-Man, and St Peter Raising Tabitha from the dead. The cycle was finished by Filippino Lippi

The Corsini Chapel of the church was built by the Corsini, probably the richest family in Florence during the 17th-18th centuries. The chapel is dedicated to St. Andrew Corsini, a Carmelite bishop of Fiesole who was canonized in 1629. The architect Pier Francesco Silvani choose a Baroque style for the chapel. The small dome was painted by Luca Giordano in 1682. The elaborated rococo ceiling is the work of one of the most important 18th century artists in the city, Giovanni Domenico Ferretti.

The convent of the church has suffered several times from numerous disasters, from the fire to the flooding of 1966. Most of the artworks are therefore damaged: these include the Bestowal of the Carmelite Rule by Filippo Lippi and the Last Supper by Alessandro Allori, and remains of works from other chapels by Pietro Nelli and Gherardo Starnina.

The Basilica of Santa Maria del Santo Spirito ("St. Mary of the Holy Spirit") is located in the Oltrarno quarter of Florence, facing the piazza with the same name. The basilica is a pre-eminent examples of Renaissance architecture.

The current church was constructed over the pre-existing ruins of a 13th century Augustinian convent which was destroyed by a fire in 1471. Filippo Brunelleschi began designs for the new building as early as 1428. After his death in 1446, the works were carried on by his followers, including Antonio Manetti, Giovanni da Gaiole, and Salvi d'Andrea; the latter was also responsible for the construction of the cupola.

Unlike San Lorenzo, where Brunelleschi's ideas were thwarted, here, his ideas were carried through with much fidelity, at least in the ground plan and up to the level of the arcades. The Latin cross plan is designed as to maximize the legibility of the grid. The contrast between nave and transept that caused such difficulty at S. Lorenzo was here also avoided. The side chapels, in the form of niches all the same size (forty in all), run along the entire perimeter of the space.

Brunelleschi's facade was never built and left blank. In 1489, a columned vestibule and octagonal sacristy, designed by Simone del Pollaiolo, known as Il Cronaca, and Giuliano da Sangallo respectively, were built to the left of the building. A door was opened up in a chapel to make the connection to the church.

A Baroque baldachin with polychrome marbles was added by Giovanni Battista Caccini and Gherardo Silvani over the high altar in 1601. The church remained undecorated until the 18th century, when the walls were plastered. The inner façade is by Salvi d'Andrea, and has still the original glass window with the Pentecost designed by Pietro Perugino. The bell tower was designed by Baccio d'Agnolo.

The church has 38 side chapels which contain a some beautiful masterpieces. The most significant is the Bini-Capponi Chapel, housing the St. Monica Establishing the Rule of the Augustinian Nuns painting by Francesco Botticini. The Corbinelli chapels contain works by Andrea Sansovino, Cosimo Rosselli and Donnino and Agnolo del Mazziere. In the chapels of the transept are frescoes by Filippino Lippi.

The sacristy was designed by Giuliano da Sangallo in 1489, and has an octagonal plan. It is home to a devotional painting of St. Fiacre curing the sick by Alessandro Allori commissioned by Christine of Lorraine, Grand Duke Ferdinando I de' Medici's wife.

Allegedly built where Saint Ambrose would have stayed when in Florence in 393, the church dates back to 998 as a chapel of a nunnery built in honour of the saint. It was rebuilt in the 19th century but still has an original open timber roof.

The church contains numerous frescos, altarpieces, and other artwork attributed to Andrea Orcagna, Agnolo Gaddi, Niccolò Gerini, Lorenzo di Bicci, Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, Sandro Botticelli, Alesso Baldovinetti, Mino da Fiesole, Cosimo Rosselli, Fra Bartolomeo, and many other artists.

Several important artists are buried in the church, including Francesco Granacci, an Italian painter of the Renaissance and lifelong friend of Michelangelo Buonarroti, the painter and sculptor Verrocchio, the architect Cronaca, and the sculptor Mino da Fiesole.

Santa Trinita is a Florentine church of the Vallumbrosan Order of monks founded in 1092 by a Florentine nobleman. The church is famous for its Sassetti Chapel, containing notable frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio that represent true masterpieces of 15th century art.

The current church was constructed over 11th century churches during 1258-1280. Multiple reconstructions occurred thereafter. The Mannerist façade (1593-1594) was designed by Bernardo Buontalenti. The relief over the central door of the Trinita was sculpted by Pietro Bernini and Giovanni Battista Caccini. The 17th century wooden doors were carved as a remembrance of Vallumbrosan saints.

The church has approximately 20 chapels, each of which contain a significant amount of artwork. The most famous are the Sassetti and the Bartolini-Salimbeni chapels which contain frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio and the Quattrocento artist Lorenzo Monaco, respectively. Francesco Sassetti had been a manager of the Medici bank. The Ghirlandaio frescoes use as backgrounds the then contemporary Florentine city views.

The Column of Justice in the Piazza Trinita, outside of where the church stands, originates from the Baths of Caracalla of ancient Rome, and was a gift to Cosimo Medici from Pope Pius IV.

The Church of Ognissanti (All-Saints Church) is a Franciscan church founded by the lay order of the Umiliati, a Benedictine order particularly skilled in manufacturing wool.

It was completed during the 1250s, but almost completely rebuilt on the Baroque designs of Bartolomeo Pettirossi, in 1627. Ognissanti was among the first examples of Baroque architecture to be built in Florence.

The Umiliati developed a strong positive relationship with the Florentine people. Many works of art, dedicated by various Florentines, began to accumulate in their once very simple church. Giotto's celebrated Madonna and Child with angels, now in the Uffizi, was painted for the high altar in 1310. During the 16th century, the Franciscan order assumed control of the church in 1571 from the Umiliati and brought works of their own, including precious relics such as the robe Saint Francis of Assisi wore.

Famous works inside the church include quattrocento frescoes in the nave chapels, by Ghirlandaio and Botticelli (who is buried in the church) and Madonna della Misericordia, also by Ghirlandaio. Perhaps the greatest of Ognissanti's frescoes is Ghirlandaio's Last Supper in the refectory between the two cloisters, a work with which Leonardo was intimately familiar. Over the door to the sacristy is a crucifix in wood by Veit Stoss.

This church was built in 1250 by the seven original members of the Servite order. In 1252, a painting of the Annunciation, which had been begun by one of the monks but abandoned in despair because he did not feel he could create a beautiful enough image, was supposedly completed by an angel while he slept. This painting was placed in the church and became extremely venerated.

The facade of the church was added in 1601 by the architect Giovanni Battista Caccini, in imitation of Brunelleschi's facade of the Foundling Hospital, which defines the eastern side of the piazza Santissima Annunziata, where the basilica lies. The building across from the Foundling Hospital, designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, was also given a Brunelleschian facade in the 1520s.

In 1817, Leopold, the last Grand Duke of Tuscany, was married to Maria Anna Carolina of Saxony inside of the basilica.

One of the most beautiful architectural examples in Florence and a great source of Florentine civic pride, the church and museum of Orsanmichele is a rewarding stop in any itinerary of Florence.

Orsanmichele is known for the sculptures of saints placed in the niches or tabernacles on all four sides of the church by the various guilds of Florence. Executed between 1340 and 1602, they form a timeline of gothic and renaissance art that is perhaps unrivaled in one location. The first sculpture, of St. Stephen by Andrea Pisano, was executed in 1340 - 150 years before Columbus discovered America - the last, St. Luke by Giambologna - was completed over 260 years later.

Orsanmichele's unique history as a site that has dramatically changed function over the centuries is very interesting. It is speculated that in Roman times there was a building here dedicated to the worship of Isis. Later, in the 9th century it was used by the Lombards as an oratory dedicated to St. Michael. By order of the Comune in the early 13th century it became a market where wheat was sold, eventually under a brick and wooden awning constructed by Arnolfo di Cambio. During this period the first "Madonna of the Graces" painting was done on a pillar of that structure, which was soon followed by miraculous events. Eventually destroyed by a fire in 1304, it was followed in 1337 by a more robust structure that was erected by either some or all of the following from a design, according to Vasrai, of Taddeo Gaddi: Francesco Talenti, Simone Talenti, Neri di Fioravante, Benci di Cione and (the most recent favorite of current scholarship) Andrea Pisano. This time made of brick and stone to better withstand fires, the new building had an open loggia on the ground floor similar to the one at the nearby Mercato Nuovo (known to many tourists as the "Straw Market") for the selling of wheat, while the upper was designed to serve as the granary. Two of the piers are hollow and were used to move the grain between floors; the slots through which the grain passed are still visible. In 1347 Bernardo Daddi's "Madonna and Child with Angels" was commissioned to replace the original "Madonna of the Graces".

While Orsanmichele continued to function as a commercial site for some time, pilgrims inspired by the story of the miraculous appearance of the Madonna there began visiting the site in increasing numbers, especially in the uncertain times after the Black Plague struck in 1348. As the legend of the new "Madonna of the Graces" grew, a tabernacle was commissioned to protect it. This masterpiece by Andrea Orcagna was completed in 1359. Both the painting and the tabernacle provide excellent examples of the aesthetics of the late medieval period.

Eventually it was decided to relocate the grain market and to rededicate the building as an oratory. To this end, the open loggia was closed up around 1380. The stained glass windows added around this time are some of the oldest in Florence, and illustrate the miracles of the Madonna of Orsanmichele. In 1410 Ghiberti constructed the two doors that are still used today.

Here is a few seconds of video from around Piazza Duomo from FlipFlorence:

Santa Maria del Fiore, or the Duomo, is the cathedral church of Florence, dedicated to the Madonna of Florence. The basilica is one of the largest churches in Italy and until the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed. The church's three buildings form part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic center of Florence.

The church was originally built in the 6th and 7th centuries and then reconstructed several times in the Romanesque period. In the 13th century, it was deemed necessary to build a larger cathedral to suit the city's growing population and to match the constructions of other Tuscan cities. Arnolfo di Cambio designed the new church which was finally completed around the 15th century.

The colorful exterior walls are made from marble; white from Carrara, green from Prato, and red from Maremma. The duomo is composed of the cathedral, the Battistero di San Giovanni and Giotto's bell tower. The majestic dome, the greatest of Brunellesci's woks, is considered a feat of unrivaled engineering skill. Weighing 37,000 tons and containing over 4 million bricks, the dome was the largest and highest of its time. 463 steps lead to the top of the dome, which offers a spectacular view of Florence.

There are several great works of art contained in the interior of the cathedral. Notable works include busts of Brunellesci, Giotto, and Michelin, Michelino's Dante, the Condottieri memorials, a sculpture of the prophet Joshua, and many more.

The baptistery is one of the oldest and most famous buildings in Florence, and its east door is the most celebrated work of Lorenzo Ghiberti. The door took almost Ghiberti's entire life to complete and Michelangelo is said to have called it "the Gate of Paradise."

The cathedral is open from 10 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Friday, from 10 am to 3:30 pm the first Saturday each month, and from 1 pm to 5 pm on Sundays. There is no admission fee to tour the cathedral and there are free guided tours every 40 minutes. Entrance fee for the Santa Reparata excavations costs €3 and visiting the cupola costs €6. For further information visit http://www.operaduomo.firenze.it/

Related links:

• The Fallen Ball of The Duomo


• Duomo Hours & News


• Piazza Duomo Pedestrian Only


• Michelangelo's "Crickets Cage"


• Piazza Duomo Video

Santa Felicita is the second oldest church in Florence after the church of San Lorenzo. Originally built around the late 4th and early 5th century, the church was dedicated to St. Felicity, a Roman widow believed to have been put to death in the year 165, along with her seven sons. A new church was built on the original site in the 11th century and the present church was erected in 1736-39 by Ferdinando Ruggieri along elegant late-baroque lines.

The church contains famous works of art by Pontormo, considered among the masterpieces of 16th century Florentine painting. The chapel was originally designed by Filippo Brunelleschi but was altered in the 18th century when the cupola was lowered and some of its frescoes were destroyed.

Admission to the church is free. It is open to tourists on weekdays from 9:30-12 and from 15:30-17:30.

The Badia Fiorentina is located near the Dante museum on via Dante Alghieri. It is a Benedictine abbey and church of the Fraternity of Jerusalem and is most famous for being the parish of Beatrice Portinari, the love of Dante's life, as well as being the church where Boccaccio delivered his famous lectures on Dante's The Divine Comedy in 1373.

The church was built founded in 978 by Willa, the widow of Umberto, Margrave of Tuscany, and was further expanded by her son, Count Ugo of Brandenburg, both of whom have tombs inside. In addition, one of the first city hospitals was established in the abbey and the tolling of the church's bell marked the beginning and ending of the working days in Florence. The inside of the structure contains beautiful Gothic art, particularly the the Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard by Filippino Lippi.

The church is open all day for prayer, but visits for tourism and to the cloister are restricted to Mondays from 3 to 6 pm. Admission is free.

An annotated map with photos and locations of the churches, cathedrals, basilicas and monasteries of Florence, Italy.

It has been difficult at times to find Santo Spirito open during the last few years. Piazza Santo Spirito has a reputation of being a little wild at night, and for awhile the church had completely closed to visitors (there were masses only). The church appears to be open again on a regular basis, and they have a new sign up detailing their hours:

For centuries, March 25th was "Florence's January 1st", the beginning of the New Year. The date was traditionally used in liturgical calendars and thus spilling over to "civic" use placing the Annunciation as the first day of the year.

According to oral tradition and the medieval manifest the Golden Legend, the first written account of the lives of the Saints by the Genovese Bishop Jacopo da Voragine, the angel Gabriel announced to Mary her chosen role as the Mother of Jesus on Friday, March 25th at noon (nine months before Christmas day) while Mary was piously reading the Book of Isaiah that prophesizes the conception of Jesus, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

This important liturgical feast day then acted for many centuries as the beginning of the New Year, however by the sixteenth century even the Church was striving to gain a better understanding of the tropical calendar and the seasons for the "placement" of Easter. It was Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 who was driven to update the calendar to create a "universal" placement of Easter which was not celebrated on the same date by all Christian communities and approved the calendar as we know it today.

Started in 1221, Santa Maria Novella is chronologically the oldest great basilica in Florence. It was designed by two Dominican friars, Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi. Further work on the basilica continued on commission from Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai who asked Leone Battista Alberti to complete the magnificent facade. The structure is a good example of humanist architecture, with proportion and classically-inspired detailing creating a balance with the pre-existing medieval part of the facade.

The interior of the church contains splendid works of Gothic and early Renaissance art by masters such as Giotto, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Filippino Lippi, Sando Botticelli, Giovanni del Biondo, Brunelleschi, and Michelangelo. The masterpieces in the The Strozzi chapel depict the first tale of the Decamerone by Giovanni Boccaccio, when seven ladies decided to leave the town and flee from the Black Plague to the countryside.

The basilica is open on weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm, and on Fridays, Sundays, and holidays from 1pm to 5 pm. Admission costs 2.70.

The Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence was built circa 1294, perhaps by a plan of Arnolfo di Cambio. It was constructed with funding from the population and the Florentine Republic and built above the foundations of a small church which some monks had erected outside the walls of the city in 1252, just a few years after the death of St. Francis. The remains of the original building were not identified until 1966, when in the aftermath of the great flood that sumerged the city, part of the paving belonging to the present Basilica gave way.

From its beginnings, the history of Santa Croce has been closely linked to the history of Florence itself. It has been continually re-planned and re-designed throughout the course of those seven centuries without suffering significant interruptions, and therfore acquiring new symbolic connotations each time. From the original Franciscan church it evolved to become a religious "town hall" for the important families and corporations when Florence was ruled by the Medici family. From being a craftsmen's laboratory and workshop - first Humanist and then Renaissance - it became a theological centre; and in the 19th Century, it saw a change from being a pantheon of the nation's glories to a place of reference for the political history of Italy before and after its unification.

Basilica of Santa Croce
Piazza Santa Croce 16
50122 Firenze
Tel. 055 24 66 105
Fax 055 24 66 105
Email: info@operadisantscroce.it

"The Jane’s Smart Art audio guide to San Marco is an adaptation of a now out-of-print book written by William Hood, the renowned Fra Angelico scholar. One in the series The Great Fresco Cycles of the Renaissance, Professor Hood’s book treated the Fra Angelico frescoes of San Marco in the context of their religious, artistic, and historical significance."

This looks sounds interesting, but the pricing is as archaic as the subject matter I think. $13.95 for an MP3 audio file of an old book is a bit much, no?

Here is a picture from the projection of Michelangelo's San Lorenzo facade - we will be adding a couple of more into the Florence photo album soon.

We heard from some friends that this Friday at night at 8:00 PM there is going to be some kind of digital projection of Michelangelo's never realized facade for San Lorenzo on the front of the existing church. I found this article which briefly mentions it and also talks about tracking down parts of the work like columns and other carvings. We plan to be there tomorrow and hopefully will have some pictures to share.

The Certosa del Galluzzo is a hill top monastery just outside of Florence - a short drive (out the Porta Romana and follow the Via Senese), or accessible by bus or taxi. The 37 bus used to service this route, but that route seems to have disappeared from the ATAF website - the 36 looks like the one to take now. You will have to walk up the hill (here is a large image of the route).

The monastery has a few monks left and tours are conducted about every half an hour. The collection includes some important works by Pontormo who came here to escape the plague in 1522. Closed for lunch from 11:30 to 3, and in the winter open only afternoons - it is probably best to call ahead for a visit: 055 204 9226

The "Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard" or the "Vision of St. Bernard" is a wonderful Renaissance painting by Filippino Lippi (c. 1485). I keep thinking about writing a list of great paintings you can see for free in Florence, and this one would be near if not at the top (Pontormo's Deposition in Santa Felicità is another favorite). It is just inside the door, on the left, of the Badia (Abbey) Fiorentina, one of the oldest churches in Florence. The Badia is "closed" to visitors except for Monday afternoons, after 3:00 PM - but it is well worth a visit, for the Lippi, the several works by Mino da Fiesole, and the rest of the art and architecture (you can probably enter the church on other days and hours, as long as there is not a service taking place - it is open for worship all day long).

This painting depicts a visit from the Virgin to St. Bernard as he writes about the annunciation - it is an annunciation in itself, but with Mary visiting the Saint to "announce" his salvation. It is full of symbolism and detail and really needs to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. It is a marvel (and a delight) that a painting of this significance and beauty still hangs in this church and has not somehow been placed in a museum.

I was in Santa Croce a few weeks ago, and in the Refectory, where the Cimabue crucifix hangs, there was a new exhibit set up in the middle of the space. One of the paintings is Bronzino's "The Descent of Christ Into Limbo". This work was "lost" in the Santa Croce complex since the flood of 1966 or before - it was previously removed from the church itself when Vasari made alterations to the piazza end of the building. It was only "discovered" again in 2003 and had been in restoration since - and what a restoration it has been. The painting is on a giant panel made up of several pieces of wood (over 4 meters tall) and was badly damaged by the flood. It has been skillfully restored to such a brilliance that it looks brand new. If you visit Santa Croce make sure to visit this part of the complex and see this striking work by a mature Bronzino.

Sant'Alessandro a Giogoli is a very interesting looking Romanesque church (12C) on the way from Florence to Montespertoli. It is just off of the SP4 (Strada Provinciale) or Via Volterrana and is surrounded by olive groves. The sign on the front says there is a Ghirlandaio inside, but the church was closed both in the morning and in the afternoon on my way back and forth from Montespertoli to visit a friend. Hopefully I will return soon and try a little harder to get inside.

The Annenberg Foundation has a great website, learner.org, where you can watch whole programs online. One of the best series is "Art of the Western World" which includes the program "The Early Renaissance". This show prominently features Florence (there is an extensive sequence about Brunelleschi and the building of the cupola) and if you are an art or history lover it will definitely interest you.