Piazza Santa Maria Novella, dominated by the great Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, is one of the main squares of Florence.
The square was opened on the initiative of the Municipality starting
from 1287 and completed around 1325, after having demolished the houses
that were there. It was used to welcome the increasingly numerous
faithful who flocked to the sermons of the Dominican friars, who lived
in the adjacent convent. Thanks to its size, it later became the scene
of festivals and shows such as the Palio dei Cocchi (a race with
carriages similar to Roman chariots), established by Cosimo I in 1563,
for which the two marble obelisks were erected, the work of Bartolomeo
Ammannati (excavated in 1570) and supported by bronze turtles made in
1608 by Giambologna.
In the 19th century the square was crossed
by the tram line.
The arrangement of the flowerbeds in the square
is recent: photos from the 1930s show a completely different design.
Closed to traffic at the end of the 80s, at least to traffic coming from
the station. The square has seen a complete restyling and redevelopment
in recent years with a complete repaving, the disappearance of traffic
and parking, the movement of kiosks, benches and garbage bins (the
latter have been buried).
The church and convent of Santa Maria Novella
The facade of the
church of Santa Maria Novella stands out on the large square, which
allows you to admire all its majesty and harmony typical of the
Renaissance style. Finished by Leon Battista Alberti in 1470 on behalf
of the wealthy merchant Giovanni Rucellai, it was actually grafted onto
the already existing lower part which dated back to the fourteenth
century. Alberti created the central portal and the upper part using
precise modular calculations which establish exact proportions between
the various elements: base equal to height, decomposition of the areas
into squares with ratios 1/2 or 2/3 and so on.
There are also
references to the client, such as the symbol of the Rucellai family in a
band of the pediment (the sail with the free shrouds woven by the wind,
a symbol of luck) and the name of the patron in the inscription under
the tympanum. The "Sol Invictus" in the center of the tympanum is the
coat of arms of the Santa Maria Novella district since the
administrative reform of 1343, but also the symbol of reason.
To
the left of the church, from the ancient entrance to the convent, you
can enter the Museum of Santa Maria Novella, which allows you to view
the frescoes in the Green Cloister and the Spanish Chapel; it exhibits a
collection of paintings, reliquaries, sacred furnishings, wallpapers and
other objects that belonged to the Dominican complex. On the lunette at
the entrance to the Museum there was a fresco by Masaccio, which has
been lost but which has come down to us through some copies.
On
the other side of the facade the "avelli" were sepulchral arks which
continue in the nearby via degli Avelli.
The hospital of São
Paulo
On the southern side of the square is the loggia of the
hospital of San Paolo, founded in the 13th century and enlarged in the
15th century with the addition of a portico inspired by Brunelleschi's
Spedale degli Innocenti, also in Florence. It was a hospice for
pilgrims, administered by the Franciscan tertiaries and from 1345 it
also became a hospital. Passed in 1451 under the direction of the
Buonomini di San Martino, it was enlarged and the portico was erected.
The series of glazed terracotta medallions with Franciscan saints and
the Works of Mercy was made by Andrea della Robbia, who is also the
author of the lunette with the Meeting between St. Francis and St.
Dominic (c. 1495) located on the church portal as evidence of the
friendship between the two mendicant orders that occupied the square. In
1592 Ferdinando I de' Medici established the first hospital for
convalescents in the city, equipped among other things with a sunny
garden for recreational hours. The Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo, after the
suppression of religious institutions, transformed the hospital into a
school in 1780. Since 1 November 2006, the former Leopoldine Schools
have housed the Alinari National Museum of Photography.
The
buildings
Among the buildings in the square, the Palazzo
Pitti-Broccardi is interesting, on the left as you leave the church,
formerly the residence of Luca Pitti before moving to the Palazzo Pitti
commissioned by him. A plaque commemorates him and another is dedicated
to Gaetano Baccani, who lived here and died in the 19th century. This
oblique side is characterized by various buildings whose appearance
depends on the 19th-20th century transformations of previous buildings.
At number 8, the Albergo Roma dates back to the 1920s and is decorated
with some deco-style stained glass windows by Tito Chini (1920-1923).
The Grand Hotel Minerva is an interesting example of modern architecture
between the 1950s and 1960s.
The obelisks
The two obelisks are
from the sixteenth century, created in mixed Seravezza marble. They were
quarried in 1570 and worked on by Bartolomeo Ammannati, after which they
were placed in place in 1608, on the occasion of the marriage of Cosimo
II to Margaret of Austria. They replaced two wooden monuments, erected
provisionally in 1563 as destinations for the traditional chariot race,
held on the eve of San Giovanni (June 24). The bronze turtles on which
the spiers rest are probably by Giambologna (1608). At the end of the
eighteenth century the obelisks were restored with the replacement of
the seventeenth-century bases with pedestals in gray stone with mirrors
in Serravezza breccia (the current ones in red Levanto marble are from
the 1960s). The golden lilies placed at the top are from the 19th
century.
The flowerbeds
The arrangement of the flower beds and
walkways dates back to 1933, when they replaced the paving, and has
already been modified several times. Since the end of 2006, a recovery
and a new arrangement of the center of the square has been underway. In
the center was a circular marble basin which collected the waters of a
fountain.
The benches
The arrangement of the new benches - in
different materials such as corten with wood and glass - took place
following the redevelopment process of the square in recent years,
favoring a single monumental axis that allows you to face exclusively
either towards the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella or towards the loggia
of the San Paolo hospital (Florence). On the central glass bench there
is the phrase by Leon Battista Alberti "The temple must pleasantly
entertain the soul and fill it with joyful wonder" taken from De Re
Aedificatoria.
The tabernacle
On the corner with via della
Scala is the large tabernacle with a fresco by Francesco d'Antonio di
Bartolomeo (copy today), depicting the Madonna with Child and saints.
The square, due to its large size, lent itself to the holding of
numerous festivals and city events which provided for a large public
participation. With Piazza Santa Croce and Piazza Santo Spirito, Santa
Maria Novella was in fact one of the favorite urban spaces for the game
of football.
Starting from 1563 it became the chosen place for
the Palio dei Cocchi which was run on the eve of the feast of San
Giovanni. The race was inspired by the chariot races of the Romans: four
wooden carriages pulled by two horses, distinguished by the four colors
of the districts of Florence (the green of San Giovanni, the red of
Santa Maria Novella, the blue of Santa Croce and the white of San
Frediano), ran following an elliptical path marked by the rope stretched
between the two obelisks, so that the chariots could not cut the track.
The sound of the trumpet announced the "move" (ie the departure)
given by the Grand Duke and after three laps the race ended at the
starting obelisk. The grand ducal family watched the Palio from a large
canopy that was specially set up on the steps of the Loggiato di San
Paolo. The winner was awarded a prize of crimson velvet, made at the
expense of the Captains of the Guelph Party. The last chariot race in
Piazza Santa Maria Novella took place in 1852.