The Sagrestia Vecchia di San Lorenzo, or Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo, is the older of two sacristies of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is one of the most important monuments of early Italian

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

. Designed by

Filippo Brunelleschi Filippo di ser Brunellesco di Lippo Lapi (1377 – 15 April 1446), commonly known as Filippo Brunelleschi ( ; ) and also nicknamed Pippo by Leon Battista Alberti, was an Italian architect, designer, goldsmith and sculptor. He is considered to ...

and paid for by the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...

family, who also used it for their tombs, it set the tone for the development of a new style of architecture that was built around proportion, the unity of elements, and the use of the classical orders. The space came to be called the "Old Sacristy" after a new one was begun in 1510 on the other side of S. Lorenzo's transept.

History

The structure was begun 1421 and largely complete in 1440. When finished, it was, however, quite isolated, the reason being that construction for the new building for San Lorenzo, the design for which Brunelleschi was also responsible, was not far along. It was only in the years after 1459 that the Old Sacristy was unified with San Lorenzo, connected to its left transept.

Design

The plan is a perfect square with a smaller square '' scarsella'' or

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

on the south side. The ''scarsella'' is axially positioned in the wall, and connected to the main space by an arched opening. The interior of the main space is articulated by a rhythmic system of

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

arche In philosophy and science, a first principle is a basic proposition or assumption that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption. First principles in philosophy are from first cause attitudes and taught by Aristotelians, and nuan ...

s that emphasize the space's geometric unity. The pilasters are for purely visual purposes, and it was this break between real structure and the appearance of structure that constituted one of the important novelties of Brunelleschi's work. The pilasters support an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

, the only purpose of which is to divide the space into two equal horizontal zones. The upper zone features pendentives under the dome, another relative novelty, more typical of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

architecture. The

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

is actually an umbrella dome, composed of twelve vaults joined at the center. It was not an uncommon design and Brunelleschi may have learned the technique from a visit to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

or other places where such domes existed. What was new was the way in which the dome was integrated into the proportion of the space below. The use of color is restricted to grey for the stone and white for the wall. The correct use of the

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...

for the capitals was also new and a testament to Brunelleschi's studies of

ancient Roman architecture Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical ancient Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often consi ...

. The decorative details are by

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

, who designed the tondos in the pendentives, the

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', 'little moon') is a crescent- or half-moon–shaped or semi-circular architectural space or feature, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be ...

s, the

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

s above the doors and the doors themselves. The smaller dome above the altar is decorated with a depiction of astrological star

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

. The arrangement of the constellation is accurate enough to estimate the particular date it represents, although there has been disagreement on the intended date represented there. In 1911,

Aby Warburg Aby Moritz Warburg (June 13, 1866 – October 26, 1929) was a German art historian and cultural theorist who founded the ''Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg'' (Warburg Library for Cultural Studies), a private library, which was later m ...

first made an attempt with the help of a Hamburg astronomer and concluded that the date was the July 9, 1422, the date of the consecration of the altar. Gertrud Bing later rejected this in favor of a calculation by Arthur Beer for July 6, 1439, the date of the closing session of the

Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1445. It was convened in territories under the Holy Roman Empire. Italy became a venue of a Catholic ecumenical council aft ...

, in which the Articles of Union between Eastern and Western Christendom were signed by Latin and Greek delegates. More recent recalculation by Professor John L. Heilbron has independently confirmed this date and even estimated the time of day at about noon.

Tombs

In the center is the sarcophagus of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici and Piccarda Bueri, by Buggiano. Set along one of the walls is the porphyry and bronze sarcophagus of Giovanni and Piero de' Medici by

Verrocchio Andrea del Verrocchio ( , , ; born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni; – 1488) was an Italian sculptor, painter and goldsmith who was a master of an important workshop in Florence. He apparently became known as ''Verrocchio'' after the ...

, who may also be responsible for the '' lavabo'' in the adjacent room on the left. Giuliano d'Arrigo, detto Pesello, volta con cielo del luglio 1442, forse legato alla venuta di renato d'angiò a firenze 01-24.jpg, Dome above the altar with the

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

of the sky of July 6, 1439 Verrocchio, tomba di piero e giovanni de' medici, lato esterno, 1469-1472, 06.JPG, Tomb Giovanni and Piero de' Medici by

, 1469–1472 Andrea del verrocchio, lavabo della segrestia vecchia, 1460-70 ca., 01.jpg, The '' lavabo,'' c. 1460–1470

References

External links

{{Florence landmarks Buildings and structures completed in 1440 Religious buildings and structures completed in the 1440s Filippo Brunelleschi church buildings Renaissance architecture in Florence Buildings and structures in Florence Tourist attractions in Florence San Lorenzo, Florence Sculptures by Donatello

History

Design

Tombs

See also

References

External links