by Grant Allen
GIOTTO. — RAISING OF DRUSIANA.
The fifth chapel, the Cappella Bardi, contains other frescoes, also by Giotto (unfortunately over-restored), of the life of St. Francis. These were once the chief ornament of this Franciscan church. On the left wall, at the summit, he divests himself of his clothing and worldly goods, and leaves his father’s house, to be the spouse of Poverty. In the second tier he appears suddenly at Arles, to Sant’Antonio of Padua, while preaching. (Read up all these subjects in Mrs. Jameson’s Monastic Orders.) In the third is the Death of St. Francis; his soul is seen conveyed by angels to heaven. This picture, which formed the model for many subsequently saintly obsequies, should be compared at once with the Ghirlandajo of the same theme in the Santa Trinità in Florence. On the right, at the summit, St. Francis receives the confirmation of the rules of his order from Pope Innocent III. In the second tier is his trial of faith before the Sultan. In the third tier are his miracles (appearance to Guido d’Assisi: a dying brother sees his soul leaping toward heaven). Consult parts I. and III. of Ruskin’s “Mornings in Florence,” on the subject of these frescoes, but do not be led away by his too positive manner. On the ceiling are St. Francis in Glory, and his three great virtues, Poverty, Chastity, Obedience. Note also the figures of the chief Franciscan luminaries, St. Louis of Toulouse, St. Louis of France, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, and St. Clara (foundress of the Franciscan female order of Poor Clares), round the windows. The whole is thus an epic of Franciscanism. Study it fully. The curious ancient altar-piece of this chapel deserves attention.
On the archway, above this chapel, outside, is St. Francis receiving the Stigmata, by Giotto — resembling the altar-piece of the same subject in the Louvre, painted by Giotto for San Francesco at Pisa. I recommend long observation of all these Giottos. Go later to Assisi, the town of St. Francis, and compare them with the Giottos in the parent monastery. The choir, which is, of course, the central point of the whole church, usually bears reference to the name and dedication: here, it is naturally adorned by the History of the Holy Cross, depicted in fresco on its walls by Agnolo Gaddi. These frescoes, however, are so ill seen, owing to the railing, and the obstacles placed in the way of entering, that I will merely give a brief outline of their wild legend as here represented.
On the right wall, in the first fresco, Seth receives from an angel a branch from the Tree of Knowledge. He is told to plant it in Adam’s heart, with an admonition that when it bears fruit, Adam will be restored to life again.
In the second fresco, the Tree, cut down by Solomon for use in the Temple, and found unsuitable, is seen in passing by the Queen of Sheba, who beholds a vision of the crucified Saviour, and falls down to worship it.
In the third, the Tree is found floating in the Pool of Bethesda, and is taken out to be used as the Cross of the Saviour.
In the fourth, the Holy Cross, buried for three hundred years, is discovered by the Empress Helena, who distinguishes it by its powers in healing sickness.
On the left wall, in the fifth fresco, Helena carries the Holy Cross in procession amid public rejoicing.
In the sixth, Chosroes, King of Persia, takes Jerusalem, and carries off a part of the Holy Cross which was still preserved there.
In the seventh, Heraclius, Emperor of the East, conquers and beheads Chosroes, and rescues the Holy Cross from the heathen.
In the eighth, Heraclius brings the Holy Cross in triumph to Jerusalem, and carries it barefoot on his shoulders into the city.
In the first chapel, beyond the choir, is an interesting altar-piece.
The second and third chapels contain nothing noteworthy.
The fourth chapel, of St. Stephen and St. Lawrence, contains frescoes by Bernardo Daddi, an early Giottesque. On the left are the Trial and Martyrdom of St. Stephen, on the right the Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, with the usual boy blowing the bellows. The scene is caught at the famous moment when the Saint is saying, “Turn me over; this side is done.” (Jam versa: assatus est.) To the left and right of the windows are St. Stephen and St. Lawrence, with their palms of martyrdom. (These two deacon saints are usually painted in couples. They similarly share Fra Angelico’s chapel in the Vatican.) Over the altar is a somewhat vulgarly coloured relief of the Madonna and Child, with angels; St. John the Evangelist, holding his symbol, the cup and serpent, and St. Mary Magdalen, with the alabaster box of ointment. Notice the Annunciation and the little saints in the predella of this work. Their order from left to right is: St. Dominic with his star; St. Lucy with her eyes in a dish; St. Catherine of Alexandria with her wheel; and St. Thomas Aquinas with his open book. A Dominican work in this Franciscan church, placed here, no doubt, by some Dominican-minded donor.
The fifth chapel, of St. Sylvester, contains frescoes by Giottino or Maso di Banco. On the left, over the tomb of Uberto de’ Bardi, is the Last Judgment, with the dead man rising solitary. Over the next tomb, — this is more probably by Taddeo Gaddi, — the Entombment, all the attitudes in which are characteristically Giottesque, and should be carefully noted. On the right wall is the Conversion of Constantine, and the miracles of St. Sylvester, greatly faded (exorcism of a dragon, etc.). Notice, in the lower tier, two dead men restored to life, naïvely represented in the usual fashion, the dead bodies below, the living rising out of them. Similar scenes will meet you elsewhere.
The end chapel of the left transept contains no work of importance. Observe from its steps the general view of the building.
In the chapel beyond transept are modern monuments and paintings.
Return by the left aisle, passing a monument of Raphael Morghen, and a * *monument of Carlo Marsuppini, by Desiderio da Settignano, an exquisite specimen of Renaissance work, with lovely decorative framework, and charming boy-angels holding the coat of arms of the deceased. Every portion of the decoration of this exquisite tomb should be examined in detail. Observe in particular the robe and tassels. It is a masterpiece of its period.
Many of the late altar-pieces in this aisle are worth passing attention as specimens of the later baroque painting.
Notice also the tomb of Galileo Galilei, died 1642, and, over the holy water stoup, St. Francis with the Stigmata.
TOMB OF GALILEO GALILEI.
On the entrance wall of the nave, in the rose window, is a Descent from the Cross, thus completing the series of the Holy Cross, from a design by Ghiberti; beneath it, the original IHS, from the design of St. Bernardino of Siena, the holy Franciscan, who placed it with his own hands on the old façade. Over the central door stands a statue of St. Louis of Toulouse, the other great Franciscan saint, by Donatello; beneath his feet, the crown which he refused in order to accept the monastic profession. Study well all these Franciscan memorials, and observe their frequent allusiveness to the Holy Cross.
The reader must not suppose that in this brief enumeration I have done anything more than hastily touch upon a point of view for the chief objects of interest in this most important church. He must come here over and over again, and study the various chapels and their frescoes in order. I have passed over endless minor works whose meaning and interest will become more and more apparent on further examination. Regard Santa Croce as a museum of the early Giottesque fresco-painters, and recollect that only in Florence, with Assisi and Padua, can you adequately study these great artists. If the study attracts you, read up in Layard’s Kugler the portion relating to Giotto, Taddeo Gaddi, and Giovanni da Milano; and also in Mrs. Jameson the legends of the chief saints here commemorated. Then return to correct and enlarge your first impressions. Afterward go on to Assisi and Padua. It is impossible to estimate the Giottesques outside Italy.
Through the cloisters of the Franciscan monastery, to the right, outside the church (designed by Arnolfo), you gain access to the Cappella de’ Pazzi, founded by the great family whose name it bears, the chief rivals of the Medici. It is a splendid work by Brunelleschi, the architect of the dome of the Cathedral. The beautiful frieze of angels’ heads without is by Donatello and Desider
io de Settignano. You can thus study here these two early Renaissance sculptors. Within are terra-cotta decorations by Luca della Robbia: the twelve Apostles and the four Evangelists. The shape of the roof is characteristic.
To the right of the cloisters on entering is the old refectory of the convent, on the end wall of which, as on most refectories, is painted in fresco the Last Supper, attributed to Giotto, more probably by Taddeo Gaddi. This Cenacolo should be carefully studied as the one from which most later representations are gradually derived. Notice the position of Judas in the foreground, long maintained in subsequent paintings. I advise you to get photographs of this work for comparison with the Ghirlandajo at San Marco, the Cenacolo di Fuligno, etc. The Crucifixion, above, has near it a Genealogical Tree of the Franciscan order; close by, St. Francis receiving the Stigmata, History of St. Louis of Toulouse, and the Magdalen at the feet of Christ in the house of the Pharisee. All these, again, should be noted for comparison; they are probably the work of a pupil of Taddeo’s. Do not omit to observe the Franciscan character here, too, nor the frequency of the outcast figure of the Magdalen. The Franciscans — the Salvation Army of their day — ministered especially to the poor and sinful.
CHAPTER IV.
SANTA MARIA NOVELLA AND THE FIRST DOMINICAN QUARTER.
St. Dominic of Castile, the great contemporary and friendly rival of St. Francis, died in 1221. The order which he founded (distinguishable in art as in life by its black and white robes) soon spread over Italy. The Dominicans constituted themselves the guardians of Faith, as the Franciscans were the apostles of Works; they protected the faithful against heresy, and extirpated heretics. The Holy Inquisition grew out of their body. They were also, incidentally, the leading teachers of scholastic philosophy; they posed as the learned order. As preachers, they chiefly expounded the doctrines of the Church, and preserved its purity.
STROZZI PALACE.
The Dominicans were the earliest builders of any important monumental church at Florence. In 1278 (some sixteen years before the Franciscans at Santa Croce), they began to erect a splendid edifice on the west side of the town, in the garden belt outside the narrow walls of the earliest precinct. It served as chapel to their monastery. The design for this church, in pure Tuscan Gothic, was prepared by two Dominican monks, Fra Sisto and Fra Ristoro; and the building was finished (except the façade) about 1355. The façade itself is a later Renaissance addition to the original building.
Before examining Santa Maria Novella, however, I strongly advise the visitor to begin by inspecting the Strozzi Palace, in the Via Tornabuoni. This massive Tuscan residence forms a typical example of the solid and gloomy Florentine palaces — half fortress, half mansion. It was built, as a whole, in 1489 (long after Santa Maria), by Benedetto da Majano, for his patron, Filippo Strozzi, the chief rival of the Medici in the later fifteenth century. The beautiful cornice which tops its exterior on the side next the Via Strozzi was added later by Cronaca. But it is well to inspect (from without) this magnificent house before visiting Santa Maria, because both Filippo Strozzi and Benedetto da Majano will meet us again more than once in the church we are about to consider. Observe that the solid Tuscan palaces of which this is the type are designed like fortresses, for defence against civic foes, with barricaded windows high up on the ground floor, and a castle-like front; while they are only accessible by a huge gate (readily closed) into a central courtyard, lighter and airier, on which the principal living-apartments open. (These palaces incidentally give you the clue to the Cour du Louvre.) Note the immense blocks of stone of which the wall is composed, and the way they are worked; observe also the windows, doorways, corner-lanterns, and rings or link-holders of the exterior; then walk into the court, whose front was added somewhat later by Cronaca. Contrast these fortress town-houses of the turbulent Florentine nobles with the relatively free and open mansions of the mercantile Venetians, among whom (under the strong rule of the Doges and the oligarchy) internal peace was so much earlier secured. Remember finally that the Strozzi were among the chief patrons of Santa Maria Novella.
From the Strozzi Palace, again, walk just around the corner into the Via della Vigna Nuova, and inspect the exterior of the slightly earlier Rucellai Palace. The family who built it were the pillars of Santa Maria and of the Dominican order. It was designed by Leon Battista Alberti, the first of the famous Renaissance architects; it is remarkable for the pilasters which here first intervene between the so-called rustica work of the masonry. These two palaces give you a good idea of the Tuscan houses. If you wish to learn more of Alberti’s style inspect also the dainty little (blocked-up) arcade or loggia opposite; as also the Rucellai Chapel in the Via della Spada, which encloses an imitation by Alberti of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. And now you are in a position to understand Santa Maria, the façade of which this same Alberti designed.
Recollect then, in the first place, that it is a Dominican church, full of the glory of the Dominicans, and of their teaching function, as well as of their great philosophic saints, in particular, St. Thomas Aquinas — look out for their black-and-white robes; and, in the second place, that it is the church of the Rucellai, the Strozzi, the Tornabuoni, and other wealthy and noble Florentine families. Earlier in date than Santa Croce as to its fabric, I place it later in the order of our tour, because its contained works of art are of later date, and its style less uniform.
Choose a very sunny day; go into the Piazza Santa Maria Novella. Observe the church, and the opposite hospital of San Paolo; there is a good relief of the Meeting of St. Dominic and St. Francis, by the Della Robbia, in the right corner of the latter, under the loggia. Then, walk around the right corner of the church into the Piazza dell’Unità Italiana, where stand by the obelisk to examine the exterior of the mediæval portion of the building, with its almost windowless nave and aisles, and its transept with small rose window. This part was designed for the Rucellai by two Dominican monks about 1278. Afterward, proceed toward the railway station, so as to observe the architecture of the end of the church, and the interesting campanile. This is all part of the primitive building.
Now, return to the much later Renaissance façade, erected by Leon Battista Alberti in 1456 for Giovanni Rucellai. This façade is well worth close notice, as a specimen of early Renaissance architecture. Observe first the earlier Gothic arcades (avelli), in black and white marble, which surround the corner. These were used as burial vaults, and contain, below, the coats-of-arms of the various noble families interred there. Those to the right have been over-restored; but on the lower tier of the façade itself, and to the left by the monastery buildings, they still remain in their original condition. The two lateral doorways are also early and Gothic. The central doorway, however, and the rest of the façade, in black and white marble, and serpentine, — at least, the part above the first cornice, — belongs to the later Renaissance design added by Alberti. If you go around to the front of the neighbouring church of San Lorenzo, you will see the way in which such façades were often left incomplete for ages in Italy. Notice the contrast between the later and earlier portions; also the handsome green pilasters. At Santa Croce, the nave and aisles have separate gables; here, only the nave has a visible gable-end, while the apparently flat top of the aisles is connected with it by a curl or volute, which does not answer to the interior architecture. Beneath the pediment runs the inscription: “Iohannes Oricellarivs, Pav Fil[ivs] An[no] Sal[vationis] Mcccclxx”; that is to say, “Giovanni Rucellai, son of Paolo, in the Year of Salvation, 1470.” Look out within for more than one memorial of these same Rucellai, the great joint patrons of Santa Maria Novella.
Enter the church. The interior, a fine specimen of Tuscan Gothic, consists of a nave and aisles, with vaulted roof (about 1350), and a transept somewhat longer than is usual in Italian churches.
Walk up the centre of the nave to the junction of the transepts (mind the two steps half way) in order to observe the internal architecture in general, and the position of the choir and chape
ls, much resembling that of Santa Croce: only, the transepts end here in raised chapels.
INTERIOR OF SANTA MARIA NOVELLA.
Then, return to the right aisle, noticing, on the entrance wall, to the right of the main door, a beautiful little Annunciation of the fifteenth century, where the position of the Madonna and angel, the dividing wall, prie-dieu, bed in the background, etc., are all highly characteristic of this interesting subject. Beneath it, three little episodes, a Baptism, an Adoration of the Magi, and a Nativity, closely imitated after Giotto. To the left of the doorway is a Holy Trinity, with saints and donors, much injured, but still a fine work by Masaccio. The altar-pieces in the right aisle are of the seventeenth century, and mostly uninteresting. One is dedicated to St. Thomas à Becket.
In the right transept is a bust of St. Antoninus, the Dominican Bishop of Florence. (The Dominicans make the most of their saints here, as the Franciscans did at Santa Croce.)
Beyond the doorway is the Tomb of Joseph, Patriarch of Constantinople, who came to the Council of Ferrara (afterward at Florence) in order to arrange a basis of reunion for the Eastern and Western Churches, and then died here, 1440. (The beautiful fresco of the Journey of the Magi by Benozzo Gozzoli at the Riccardi Palace, which you will visit later, contains his portrait as the Eldest King.)
