Santa Maria dei Candeli is a former

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church situated in the Borgo Pinti in central

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 ...

, Region of Tuscany, Italy.

History

Initially founded in 13–14th centuries as a convent; the present structure was enlarged starting 1558, with a radical rebuilding in 1703 by the Baroque artist

Giovanni Battista Foggini Giovanni Battista (Giambattista) Foggini (25 April 1652 – 12 April 1725) was an Italian sculptor active in Florence, renowned mainly for small bronze statuary. Biography Born in Florence, the young Foggini was sent to Rome by the Medici Gra ...

. The ceiling is frescoed with the ''Assumption'' by Niccolò Lapi, the right wall houses a ''St Clair'' by Francesco Botti and a ''St Augustine'' by Jacopo Vignali. The main altarpiece is an ''Immaculate Conception'' by Carlo Sacconi, flanked by a ''Transit of St Joseph'' by

Tommaso Redi Tommaso Redi (22 December 1665 – 10 October 1726) was an Italian painter, active during the late-Baroque in his native Florence. He initially apprenticed with the Florentine painter Anton Domenico Gabbiani (1652–1726), and then moved to ...

. The monastic order was suppressed by the

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of mi ...

occupation, and the adjacent monastery became successively an orphanage, an asylum, and finally a lyceum for training policemen. The

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

frescoes detached from the refectory depict a ''Last Supper'', ''Annunciation'', and ''Adoration of the Bambino'', formerly attributed to

Franciabigio Franciabigio (1482 – 24 January 1525) was an Italian painter of the Florentine Renaissance. His true name may have been Francesco di Cristofano; he is also referred to as either Marcantonio Franciabigio or Francia Bigio. Life and career He was ...

, but which some now attribute to Giovanni Antonio Sogliani.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Dei Candeli, Santa Roman Catholic churches in Florence 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1702