The Museum of Santa Maria Novella
A beautiful example of the Italian Gothic
The first of the great Florentine basilicas and the first large-scale Gothic building in the city, the Dominicans began constructing Santa Maria Novella soon after 1240. It was finished in 1357 but was not consecrated until 1420. In the following centuries it underwent various modifications, in particular the remodelling begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1566 and the 19th-century interventions designed to restore the Gothic appearance of the building. There are a number of important artworks in the church: Giotto’s Crucifix and a wooden Crucifix by Filippo Brunelleschi, Masaccio’s fresco of the Trinity and two chapels frescoed respectively by Domenico Ghirlandaio and Filippino Lippi. The rich polychrome-marble façade was completed in the second half of the 15th century by Leon Battista Alberti.
Museum and Cloister at Santa Maria Novella
Piazza Santa Maria Novella
Ph: +39 055 282187
For advanced reservations: Firenze Musei, Tel. 055 294883, costs € 3,00 per person (€ 4,00 per/for Galleria Uffizi or/and Accademia); School groups: Tel. 055 290112. On-line ticket sales: www.firenzemusei.it.
