Santa Maria Novella (Florence, Italy) : Frontal view of the blind arcade, located east of the façade

Creator:

Alberti, Leon Battista, 1404-1472
Rucellai, Giovanni, 1475-1525
Talenti, Francesco, born 1300-1310, died after 1369

Published/Created:

Florence, Tuscany, Italy
1458-1470 (façade) (alteration); ca. 1246-1399

Date Depicted:

10/1/1998
500 AD - 1499 AD

Materials:

marble

Notes:

The second design commissioned by Giovanni Rucellai, the spectacular green-and-white patterned stone façade of S Maria Novella, was begun in or soon after 1458, the year in which Rucellai obtained rights of patronage, and was probably completed in 1470. For this project, Alberti was not only faced with the problem of devising a classical scheme for a church with a tall nave and lower side aisles, but he was also required to incorporate the beginnings of an earlier façade. To provide a visual transition from the wider lower storey to the narrower upper one, Alberti installed a pair of giant S-shaped scrolls [reversed volutes], inspired by those of Brunelleschi's lantern (designed 1436) at Florence Cathedral.

Topics:

Architecture -- Italy -- 13th century -- (YVRC)
Architecture -- Italy -- 14th century -- (YVRC)

Period/Style:

Medieval
Renaissance

Culture:

Italian

Accession Number:

1A1-AL-SM-D2

Genre:

architecture (AAT)

Format:

Image

Content Type:

Sculptures, Models, & Architecture

Rights:

Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.

Access Restrictions:

Yale Community Only

Digital:

architectural exteriors construction buildings; religious buildings; churches arcade: blind

Source Creator:

Gilchrist, Scott

Source Title:

Archivision Base Collection

Source Created:

2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.
10/1/1998

Source Note:

Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2011; photographer Scott Gilchrist

Yale Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Digital Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Local Record Number:

4152

OID:

10086385

PID:

digcoll:1865068