Basilica of Santa Maria del Santo Spirito
7:00 AM |
| Filippo Brunelleschi and apprentices, Santo Spirito di Firenze, 1487 |
The wonderful thing about this building is that Brunelleschi's true plans were allowed to take form, rather than having to adopt a less creative composition like his plans for the S. Lorenzo. Everything about the structure, especially within it, celebrates faith and worldly life. There are 38 side chapels, each featuring work from talented artists of the period, almost all originals. The most significant is the Bini-Capponi Chapel, which houses the St. Monica Establishing the Rule of the Augustinian Nuns painting by Francesco Botticini. Fra Filippo Lippi's frescoes lie in the transept chapels. One of the only replicated pieces is a copy of Michelangelo's Pietà by Nanni di Baccio Bigio. Oh, if I could put more than one picture in this post, I would fill the page with these frescoes. Each piece has the beginning elements of the Humanist movement, the people within them actually seeming lifelike, celebrating the human form.
This Basilica opens the viewers' eyes, its marble pillars drawing the gaze upward to the angelic ceilings. Exemplary of the Middle Ages, this structure serves a religious function by lifting the mind to God... and, of course, the whole Basilica part. The entire building has such geometric precision to it, with each vestibule, chapel, and pillar put exactly where it should be. The sacristy itself is octagonal and features a devotional painting of Alessandro Allori's St. Fiacre Curing the Sick, commissioned by Grand Duke Ferdinando de Medici's wife, Christine of Lorraine.
Though Brunelleschi wasn't there to see the completion of his grand piece, his apprentices followed his plans through and through, except for the outer facade. That part he'll have to writhe in his grave for, as there were never any plans to complete it. But other than that, Brunelleschi created a piece fully his own design and didn't have to make compromises with his work; which truly shows when looking at the details put into each and every element of the bigger piece.
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