Europe
Italy
Florence
church of Santa Maria Novella

A brief description.

The Dominican friars, Sisto of Firenze (+1289) and Ristoro of Campi (+1283), began to build the church Santa Maria Novella in 1246 on the site of the l0th-century oratory of S. Maria delle Vigne. The nave and aisles went up in 1279, - first stone on 18th October 1279 -, and the building was finished in the middle of the 14th century with the campanile and the Sacristy by Jacopo Talenti.

The marvellous facade was remodelled between 1456 and 1470 by Leon Battista Alberti who created the splendid portal and everything above it, articulated in inlaid squares and bordered by the heraldic sails of the Rucellai family who commissioned the work.

Two large reversed volutes tie the lateral masses together with those in the center, articulated by four engaged pilasters and terminating in a triangular pediment. Ignazio Danti, O.P. resided at this priory and designed the first gnomon on the facade in 1572.

The interior is divided into a nave and two aisles by compound piers with pointed arches, and 16th-century renovation.
The church houses numerous works from the 14th to the 16th centuries.Among others the monument to the beata Villana de' Botti by Rossellino (1451); the Bust of Saint Antoninus Pierozzi (in terra cotta) and the tomb of the Bishop of Fiesole by Tino da Camaino, and many Others. The Cappella Maggiore houses many fqamous works of art.

The gate to the left of the facade leads to the First Cloister, in Romanesque style (1350) frescoed with Scenes from the Old Testament by Paolo Uccello (now in the Refectory). From here, through the Chiostrino dei Morti, one arrives at the Chiostro Grande, with more than fifty arches and completely lined with frescoes by Florentine masters of the 15th and 16th centuries.

The campanile is built ca 1330 and was also watch-tower and observation post of fire.

Source: Casa ditgrice Bonecchi

Philately

Painting by the Italian painter Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1486-1490
for the altar in the church Santa Maria Novella in Florence.
The entire painting, - tryptich -, is moved in 1804 and the middle part
was sold by the King Luis I of Beieren in 1816. On this painting on the
left St. Dominic with a book and the text: Disciplinam et sapientam docuit
eis beatus Dominicus. Saint Dominic teached them order and wisdom.
The painting is now preserved in the Alte Pinakothek in München.

Manama 1972, Mi 1225.

On the Piazza Santa Maria Novella is situated the Dominican
church Santa Maria Novella. On the stamp a reproduction of
a football-game in the 16th century, before 1572.
In the background the front of the church and the bell tower.

Monaco 1963, Mi 748, Sc 567.

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