Santo Spirito

History

The land for the Augustinian church and convent was donated by Speziale and Acolti to Aldebrandino, a prior of the Augustinian establishment in Arcetri in 1250. The plot was located on the south bank of Arno in the sesto (one of the six sestieri of Florence) Oltrarno, within the communal walls of 1173–1175, but in a sparsely populated area. It became more accessible with construction of the Holy Trinity bridge (Ponte Santa Trinita) in 1252. The Augustinians started the church and the convent in the same year, incorporating an old church of San Romolo in the complex. It was originally dedicated to Mary, All Saints and the Holy Spirit, changing by the end of the century to Mary, the Holy Spirit and Matthew.

The churches and convents of mendicant orders were constructed with the financial support of the commune, which provided funds for Santo Spirito in 1267, and then from 1292 to 1301.

The convent of S. Spirito became a center of scholarly activities and was recognized as Studium Generale of the Augustinian order in 1284. The first Rule and Constitutions of the Augustinians were approved in 1287 by the general chapter of the order that was held in Florence.

Houses were purchased in 1301 to produce a public square in front of the church — the Piazza Santo Spirito. By 1310 Santo Spirito had seven altars and a number of family chapels. More chapels were built during the next hundred years. By mid-century Santo Spirito was a very substantial complex, including a large first cloister. A Crucifixion and The Last Supper were frescoed by Andrea Orcagna and his workshop in the 1360s.

The confraternity of Santa Maria delle Laude (laudese), dedicated to the Virgin Mary and her praise was founded before 1322. It was staging an annual Pentecost play celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles. It also was involved in charity: friar Simone Fidati da Cascia directed the laudese foundation of a house for former prostitutes. In 1333 it already housed more than fifty women.

Santo Spirito was associated with the early humanism in Florence. One of the groups, led by Boccaccio, gathered there in 1360s and the 1370s. Upon his death in 1375 Boccaccio bequeathed his library to the convent. …

Chapel altarpieces

The church has 38 side chapels (two chapels having been given over to doors), which contain a noteworthy amount of artworks. The most significant is the Bini-Capponi Chapel, housing the St. Monica Establishing the Rule of the Augustinian Nuns painting by Francesco Botticini. The Corbinelli chapels works are by Andrea Sansovino, Cosimo Rosselli and Donnino and Agnolo del Mazziere.

In the chapels of the transept are altarpieces by Filippino Lippi. Also in the transept is a choir from which the Frescobaldi Marquisses could participate in the rites without being seen by the crowd.

The sacristy, accessed through a doorway in what would have been the left sixth chapel preceded by a monumental vestibule by Simone del Pollaiolo, was designed by Giuliano da Sangallo in 1489, and has an octagonal plan. It is home to a devotional painting of St. Fiacre curing the Sick (1597) by Alessandro Allori (1596) commissioned by Christine of Lorraine, Grand Duke Ferdinando I de' Medici's wife.

Michelangelo's Crucifix

Michelangelo Buonarroti, when he was seventeen years old, was allowed to make anatomical studies on the corpses coming from the convent's hospital; in exchange, he sculpted a wooden crucifix which was placed over the high altar. Today the crucifix is in the octagonal sacristy that can be reached from the west aisle of the church.

The cloisters and the Cenacolo

The convent had two cloisters, called Chiostro dei Morti and Chiostro Grande ("Cloister of the Dead" and "Grand Cloister"). The first takes its name from the great number of tombstone decorating its walls, and was built around 1600 by Alfonso Parigi. The latter was constructed in 1564–1569 by Bartolomeo Ammannati in a classicistic style.

The former convent also contains the great refectory (Cenacolo di Santo Spirito) with a large fresco portraying the Crucifixion over a fragmentary Last Supper, both attributed to Andrea Orcagna (1360–1365). It is one of the rare examples of Late Gothic Art which can still be seen in Florence. The room also boasts a collection of sculptures from the 11th–15th centuries, including two low reliefs by Donatello, a high relief by Jacopo della Quercia (Madonna with Child) and two marble sculptures by Tino da Camaino (1320–1322).