Basilica of Santa Maria Novella - Table of Contents ........................... Architecture Around the World
Spanish
Chapel - Basilica
of Santa Maria Novella
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Piazza di Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy
February 2020 photosOn this page, below:
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Reprint - excerpts
Frescoes in the Spanish Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence (1366-67) Web Gallery of Art (online May 2020) The Cappellone degli Spagnoli (Spanish Chapel), located in what is called the Chiostro Verde (Green Cloister) on the west side of the nave of Santa Maria Novella, was erected around 1350 as the chapter house of the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria Novella. The chapter house became the "Spanish Chapel" only after 1566, when the Dominicans allowed the Spanish community in Florence to use it for worship. The patron of the chapel was Mico (Buonamico) Guadalotti. The decoration of the space, which is rectangular in plan and spanned by a large quadripartite vault, was undertaken only in January 1366, after more than ten years had passed since the death of the patron. The executor of the patron's will concluded a contract with the painter Andrea Bonaiuto (Andrea da Firenze) according to which Andrea was to decorate the chapter house within the next two years. A complex program of imagery in the form of large allegories and narrative paintings unfolds in Andrea's frescoes, which extend over all four walls and the vaulting of the space. The program is in part based on the writings of Fra Jacopo Passavanti, a well-known preacher and one of the executors of the patron's will. The end wall (the north wall) of the chancel chapel is devoted entirely to three scenes from the Passion of Christ: the Bearing of the Cross at bottom left, the Crucifixion in the middle, and the Descent into Hell at bottom right. On the vault, the thematic continuation of the Passion scenes is found in the Resurrection, the Miracle of Pentecost, and the Ascension of Christ, to which is added, as the fourth vault image, a free copy of the famous mosaic by Giotto known as the Navicella, from the Old St. Peter's. The prevailing view of the scholars today is that the frescoes' interest lies primarily in the content of the images and the pictorial program, with artistic achievement being a secondary concern. |
North
wall North wall Upper and lower scenes detailed below:  North wall - Upper left Fresco ... One of the two thieves crucified with Jesus  North wall - Upper middle Crucifixion  North wall - Upper right The other thief crucified with Jesus  North wall - Lower left Jesus carries his cross on the way to the Crucifixion  North wall - Lower middle  North wall - Lower right Jesus's descent into Hell after the Resurrection |
Ceiling frescoes Ceiling frescoes Frescoes ... Two panels detailed below:  Ceiling fresco Resurrection ... Note SPQR text on the robe of a Roman soldier ... SPQR: initials of a Latin phrase Senātus Populusque Rōmānus. It means "The Roman Senate and People" or "The Senate and People of Rome". It refers to the government of the ancient Roman Republic. It is still used as an official emblem of the modern-day municipality of Rome. ... Bottom image: Pelican and chicks  Ceiling fresco Walking on Water and Saving Peter |
Ledgerstone Floor ledgerstone |