Parish Church of Santa Maria dell’Antella

The Parish Church of Santa Maria dell’Antella overlooks the main square of the village of Antella in the territory of Bagno a Ripoli. Dating back to the 11ᵗʰ century, it retains the simple elegance of Romanesque styling on the outside, while on the inside bearing witness to the extensive interventions carried out between the 16ᵗʰ and 17ᵗʰ centuries.

The single nave concludes with a semicircular apse, today connected to another structure used as a sacristy. Inside are 17ᵗʰ-century serene stone altars and a marble baptismal font, traceable to the same period, while the five-sided stone pulpit dates back to an earlier period, having been commissioned in 1580 by Bishop Alessandrini. 

The four lateral altars display important works. On the right altar are a Crucifixion by Simone Pignoni and a frescoed tabernacle from the mid-15ᵗʰ century by Paolo Schiavo, depicting the Madonna and Child with Saint Francis and Saint John the Evangelist.

On the left altars can be seen a Madonna giving a habit to the Seven Saints Founders of the Order of the Servants of Mary, painted by Lorenzo Lippi in 1660. This work is of particular value to the local community since in the lower part, you can see the church, rectory and tabernacle in the borough, as they appeared at the time. 

Also of note is Domenico Passignano’s Assumption of the Virgin in the apse, while within a niche is a partially glazed polychrome terracotta from the early-1500s showing Madonna Enthroned, attributed to Benedetto Buglioni.