Basilica della Santissima Annunziata di Firenze

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Santa Annunziata di Firenze

The Basilica della Santissima Annunziata (Basilica of the Most Holy Annunciation) is a Roman Catholic minor basilica in Florence and the mother church of the Servite order. It is located at the northeastern side of the Piazza Santissima Annunziata.

1 History of the Church and Tribune
2 Veneration
3 Other Aspects of the Church
4 References
5 External link

[edit] History of the Church and Tribune

The church was founded in 1250 by the seven original members of the Servite order. In 1252, a painting of the Annunciation, which had been begun by one of the monks but abandoned in despair because he did not feel he could create a beautiful enough image, was supposedly completed by an angel while he slept. This painting was placed in the church and became so venerated that in 1444 the Gonzaga family from Mantua financed a special tribune. Michelozzo, who was the brother of the Servite prior, was commissioned to build it, but since Ludovico II of Gonzaga had a special admiration for Leon Battista Alberti, Alberti in 1469 was given the commission. His vision was limited, however, by the pre-existing foundations. Construction was completed in 1481, after Alberti’s death. Though the space was given a Baroque dressing in the seventeenth century, the basic scheme of a domed circular space flanked by altar niches is still visible.^[1]

The facade of the church was added in 1601 by the architect Giovanni Battista Caccini, in imitation of Brunelleschi's facade of the Foundling Hospital, which defines the eastern side of the piazza. The building across from the Foundling Hospital, designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, was also given a Brunelleschian facade in the 1520s.

[edit] Veneration

Pilgrims who came to the church to venerate the miraculous painting often left wax votive offerings, many of them life-size models of the donor (sometimes complete with horses). In 1516, a special atrium was built to house these figures, the Chiostrino dei Voti. By the late 18th century there were some six hundred of these images and they had become one of the city's great tourist attractions. In 1786, however, they were all melted down to make candles.

The Florentine brides traditionally visit the shrine to leave their bouquets.

[edit] Other Aspects of the Church

Other chapels contain frescoes by Andrea del Castagno.

The organ (1628) is the oldest in Florence and the second oldest in Italy.

The church contains the tombs of the artists Baccio Bandinelli, Pietro Tacca and Giambologna as well as the Italian writer Maria Valtorta.

The Chiostrino dei Voti is covered in frescoes begun in 1516 to mark the canonisation of Filippo Benizi, fifth Prior General of the Servites. These were largely painted by Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino and depict scenes from Benizi's life and also from the life of the Virgin.

Another cloister, known as the Chiostri dei Morti, contains the famous Madonna del Sacco by Andrea del Sarto.

The Cappella di San Luca, which opens off it, has belonged to the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno since 1565. Many artists are buried in its vault, including Benvenuto Cellini, Pontormo, Franciabigio, Giovanni Montorsoli and Lorenzo Bartolini.