Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Santa Maria Novella Lunettes

 From The Florentine:

The grand cloister of Santa Maria Novella was built between 1340 and 1360. At the time, it was the largest cloister in Florence. From 1562 to 1592, the architect Giulio Parigi received a commission from Eleanor of Toledo, the wife of Cosimo I de’ Medici, to fresco the cloister, calling on artists such as Bernardino Poccetti, Santi di Tito, Ludovico Cigoli and Alessandro Allori. In the eighteenth century, the stone elements were moved around in the cloister and some of the empty lunettes were painted. The fresco cycle, which consists of 52 lunettes, is considered to be one of the most typical examples of counter-reformation painting due to its scope, iconography and clear storytelling, which focuses on the life of St. Dominic and other Dominican saints. In 1920, the cloister belonged to the Carabinieri marshal and brigadier training college. In 2016, it became part of the Santa Maria Novella Museum. (Read more.)
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