Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel
Encyclopedia
The Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel (Italian: Cappella Bartolini Salimbeni) is a chapel in the church of Santa Trinita
, Florence
, central Italy. Its decoration by Lorenzo Monaco
, dating to the 1420s, are one of the few surviving examples of International Gothic
frescoes in Italy. The chapels has kept other original elements, such as its altarpiece, an Annunciation, also by Lorenzo Monaco, and the railings.
renovation and enlargement of the church started in the mid-13th century, was owned by the rich merchant family of the Bartolini-Salimbeni since as early as 1363. Their residence, the Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni
, was located in the same square of the church.
Around 1390 the chapel had been already decorated by Spinello Aretino
: traces of his work were found during the 1960s restorations. Lorenzo Monaco's frescoes date to 1420s, when a re-decoration program was carried on in the whole church, as testified also by fragments of Giovanni Toscani's frescoes in the annexed Ardinghelli Chapel.
Lorenzo Monaco's was inspired by numerous contemporary examples of Histories of the Virgin cycles, such as the Baroncelli Chapel
by Taddeo Gaddi
, the Rinuccini Chapel by Giovanni da Milano
and others, in the church of Santa Croce, Orcagna's frescoes in Santa Maria Novella, the Holy Cingulum Chapel by Agnolo Gaddi
in the Cathedral of Prato and the stained glasses of Orsanmichele
, which perhaps Lorenzo Monaco had collaborated to.
The frescoes were covered by white plasters in 1740, and were rediscovered in 1885-1887 by Augusto Burchi. In 1944 the German invasion forces blew the nearby Ponte Santa Trinita
, causing damages also to the frescoes. They were restored in 1961 and again in 2004.
The theme of the frescoes are connected to the contemporary dispute about the Immaculate Conception of Mary, involving the question if she had been born without the original sin
: the dispute saw the Franciscan and the Benedictines (including the Vallumbrosan Order
holding the church at the time) against the Dominicans. Lorenzo Monaco's frescoes were inspired by the apocryphal Gospel of James
, dealing with Mary's infancy and supporting the Vallumbrosan's view that she had been not naturally born by her father.
The cycle begins in the lunette
on the left wall, portraying the Espulsion of Joachim from the Temple and the Annunciation to Joachim. Below are the Meeting of Joachim and Anne and Anne at the Golden Gate, set in a fanciful Jerusalem with high tower, belfries and other edifices painted in pink. The water of a stream where several youths are drinking is a symbol of Mary as the source of life, while the sea is a hint to her attribute as Stella Maris ("Star of the Sea") and the islet a symbol of virginity. The stories continue in the middle part of the end wall, with the Nativity of the Virgin, following the same scheme of Pietro Lorenzetti
's Nativity of the Virgin
, with Jesus bathing, and the Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple. The latter scene contains several numerology
hints in the steps (three and seven, the number of the Theologic Virtues and all the Virtues respectively) and in the arches of Solomon's Temple
(three like the Holy Trinity).
The scene on the mid-left wall, perhaps the sole executed by Lorenzo Monaco alone, depicts the Marriage of the Virgin. The pretenders who are refused by Mary walk from the right to left such as in the artist's Adoration of the Magi
at the Uffizi; one of them (that in the background, behind the arcade) is a possible self-portrait of Lorenzo Monaco, although his age does not correspond to the artist's one at the time. The next scene is that of the Annunciation, whose predella has scenes of the Visitation, Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds, Adoration of the Magi and the Flight to Egypt.
The next episodes depicted include some miracles connected to Mary: the Dormitio, the Assumption and the Miracle of the Snow. In the cross vault are portrayals of Prophets David, Isaiah, Malachi
and Micah
.
Santa Trinita
Santa Trinita is a church in central Florence, Italy. It is the mother church of the Vallumbrosan Order of monks, founded in 1092 by a Florentine nobleman...
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, central Italy. Its decoration by Lorenzo Monaco
Lorenzo Monaco
Lorenzo Monaco was an Italian painter of the late Gothic-early Renaissance age.-Biography:...
, dating to the 1420s, are one of the few surviving examples of International Gothic
International Gothic
International Gothic is a phase of Gothic art which developed in Burgundy, Bohemia, France and northern Italy in the late 14th century and early 15th century...
frescoes in Italy. The chapels has kept other original elements, such as its altarpiece, an Annunciation, also by Lorenzo Monaco, and the railings.
History
The chapel, created during the GothicGothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
renovation and enlargement of the church started in the mid-13th century, was owned by the rich merchant family of the Bartolini-Salimbeni since as early as 1363. Their residence, the Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni
Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni
The Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni is a palace in Florence, central Italy.-History:The palace is situated where once were the residence of the Soldanieri and later Dati families, who were bought by Bartolomeo Bartolini-Salimbeni....
, was located in the same square of the church.
Around 1390 the chapel had been already decorated by Spinello Aretino
Spinello Aretino
Spinello Aretino was an Italian painter, the son of a Florentine named Luca, who had taken refuge in Arezzo in 1310 when exiled with the rest of the Ghibelline party.-Biography:...
: traces of his work were found during the 1960s restorations. Lorenzo Monaco's frescoes date to 1420s, when a re-decoration program was carried on in the whole church, as testified also by fragments of Giovanni Toscani's frescoes in the annexed Ardinghelli Chapel.
Lorenzo Monaco's was inspired by numerous contemporary examples of Histories of the Virgin cycles, such as the Baroncelli Chapel
Baroncelli Chapel
The Baroncelli Chapel is a chapel located at the transept's end of the church of Santa Croce, Florence, central Italy. It has frescoes by Taddeo Gaddi executed between 1328 and 1338.-Description:The fresco cycle represents the Stories of the Virgin...
by Taddeo Gaddi
Taddeo Gaddi
Taddeo Gaddi was a medieval Italian painter and architect.-Biography:He was the son of Gaddo di Zanobi, called Gaddo Gaddi. He was a member of Giotto's workshop from 1313 to 1337, when his master died...
, the Rinuccini Chapel by Giovanni da Milano
Giovanni da Milano
Giovanni da Milano was an Italian painter, known to be active in Florence and Rome between 1346 and 1369.His style is, like many Florentine painters of the time, considered to be derivative of Giotto's...
and others, in the church of Santa Croce, Orcagna's frescoes in Santa Maria Novella, the Holy Cingulum Chapel by Agnolo Gaddi
Agnolo Gaddi
Agnolo Gaddi was an Italian painter. He was the son and pupil of the painter Taddeo Gaddi.Taddeo Gaddi was himself the major pupil of the Florentine master Giotto...
in the Cathedral of Prato and the stained glasses of Orsanmichele
Orsanmichele
Orsanmichele is a church in the Italian city of Florence...
, which perhaps Lorenzo Monaco had collaborated to.
The frescoes were covered by white plasters in 1740, and were rediscovered in 1885-1887 by Augusto Burchi. In 1944 the German invasion forces blew the nearby Ponte Santa Trinita
Ponte Santa Trinita
The Ponte Santa Trìnita is a Renaissance bridge in Florence, Italy, spanning the Arno. The Ponte Santa Trìnita is the oldest elliptic arch bridge in the world, the three flattened ellipses giving the structure its celebrated elegant appearance...
, causing damages also to the frescoes. They were restored in 1961 and again in 2004.
Description
The frescoes, fragments of which are now lost, occupy the chapel's walls, vault, arch and lunette. Lorenzo Monaco was mostly a miniaturist, and his (or his assistants', since he was aged at the time and perhaps at his death in 1424 the work was unfinished) lack of confidence with the fresco technique is shown by the presence of figures completed in different days, or the use of dry painting in some places.The theme of the frescoes are connected to the contemporary dispute about the Immaculate Conception of Mary, involving the question if she had been born without the original sin
Original sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
: the dispute saw the Franciscan and the Benedictines (including the Vallumbrosan Order
Vallumbrosan Order
The Vallumbrosan Order is a Roman Catholic religious order, technically a Benedictine congregation, which derives its name from the motherhouse, Vallombrosa , situated c...
holding the church at the time) against the Dominicans. Lorenzo Monaco's frescoes were inspired by the apocryphal Gospel of James
Gospel of James
The Gospel of James, also known as the Infancy Gospel of James or the Protoevangelium of James, is an apocryphal Gospel probably written about AD 145, which expands backward in time the infancy stories contained the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and presents a narrative concerning the birth and...
, dealing with Mary's infancy and supporting the Vallumbrosan's view that she had been not naturally born by her father.
The cycle begins in the lunette
Lunette
In architecture, a lunette is a half-moon shaped space, either filled with recessed masonry or void. A lunette is formed when a horizontal cornice transects a round-headed arch at the level of the imposts, where the arch springs. If a door is set within a round-headed arch, the space within the...
on the left wall, portraying the Espulsion of Joachim from the Temple and the Annunciation to Joachim. Below are the Meeting of Joachim and Anne and Anne at the Golden Gate, set in a fanciful Jerusalem with high tower, belfries and other edifices painted in pink. The water of a stream where several youths are drinking is a symbol of Mary as the source of life, while the sea is a hint to her attribute as Stella Maris ("Star of the Sea") and the islet a symbol of virginity. The stories continue in the middle part of the end wall, with the Nativity of the Virgin, following the same scheme of Pietro Lorenzetti
Pietro Lorenzetti
Pietro Lorenzetti was an Italian painter, active between approximately 1306 and 1345. His younger brother was the painter Ambrogio Lorenzetti....
's Nativity of the Virgin
Nativity of the Virgin (Pietro Lorenzetti)
The Nativity of the Virgin is a painting by the Italian late medieval painter Pietro Lorenzetti, dating from around 1335-1342, now housed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo of Siena, Italy.-History:The painting originally decorated the altar of St...
, with Jesus bathing, and the Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple. The latter scene contains several numerology
Numerology
Numerology is any study of the purported mystical relationship between a count or measurement and life. It has many systems and traditions and beliefs...
hints in the steps (three and seven, the number of the Theologic Virtues and all the Virtues respectively) and in the arches of Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount , before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE....
(three like the Holy Trinity).
The scene on the mid-left wall, perhaps the sole executed by Lorenzo Monaco alone, depicts the Marriage of the Virgin. The pretenders who are refused by Mary walk from the right to left such as in the artist's Adoration of the Magi
Adoration of the Magi (Lorenzo Monaco)
The Adoration of the Magi is a tempera on panel painting by the Italian late Gothic artist Lorenzo Monaco, now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.-History:...
at the Uffizi; one of them (that in the background, behind the arcade) is a possible self-portrait of Lorenzo Monaco, although his age does not correspond to the artist's one at the time. The next scene is that of the Annunciation, whose predella has scenes of the Visitation, Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds, Adoration of the Magi and the Flight to Egypt.
The next episodes depicted include some miracles connected to Mary: the Dormitio, the Assumption and the Miracle of the Snow. In the cross vault are portrayals of Prophets David, Isaiah, Malachi
Malachi
Malachi, Malachias or Mal'achi was a Jewish prophet in the Hebrew Bible. He had two brothers, Nathaniel and Josiah. Malachi was the writer of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Neviim section in the Jewish Tanakh...
and Micah
Book of Micah
The Book of Micah is one of fifteen prophetic books in the Hebrew bible/Old Testament, and the sixth of the twelve minor prophets. It records the sayings of Mikayahu, meaning "Who is like Yahweh?", an 8th century prophet from the village of Moresheth in Judah...
.