Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova

History

The Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova was founded in 1288 by a wealthy Florentine merchant, Folco de Ricovero Portinari (d.1289). His family's servant, Monna Tessa (d. 1327), heavily convinced Portinari to found the hospital with an emphasis of charity and humility. Her dedication to service and healing is remembered at her tombstone alongside Folco, located in the Cloister of the Bones, and by her marble statue at the entrance of the hospital. Folco's daughter, Beatrice (1265-1290), was the inspiration for Dante Alighieri's (1265-1321) Divine Comedy, though Beatrice and Dante were both married to other people and only met twice during their life.

After the hospital's foundation on the former convent of a Catholic community, Sant’Egidio, the hospital rapidly transformed financially and physically from small beginnings to a large medical system with more than two hundred beds, multiple wards, ranks of medical professionals, and multidisciplinary care, all made possible by public subsidies and generous donations of wealthy Florence citizens. The Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova was the first European medical institution to have a complex organization and still focus purely on healing the sick and the poor, regardless of financial status or place of origin.

Organization of the Hospital

The Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova was particularly regarded for their progressive and modern rules, practices, and organizations. This hospital was an inspirational force throughout Europe; King Henry VII (1457-1509) of London requested two letters from Francesco Portinari, whose family founded the hospital, that described the ordinances and statues for the hospital that would help him later replicate their medical system in the Hospital of the Savoy. These ordinances included organization of staff, medical cures, and religious practices.

Santa Maria Nuova had an intricately structured hierarchy of medical personnel, beginning with the rector as the administrative and medical oversight, who was supported by core medical staff including physicians, residents, and surgeons, as well as nurses, pharmacists, and a treasurer that allowed for the continuous and specialized care. First, the hospital's head figure, or rector, was a respectable, religious figure and voted in by two thirds of a majority. His life was set by strict guidelines, as he oversaw all medical practices and organizational tasks of daily schedules and professional ranks. The rector also held the responsibility of looking after the women's ward from a respectable distance, only visiting them once a month for reassurance. Administrative employees also include the treasurer and notary, who had the large responsibility of recording annual income and expenditures in extreme detail including charcoal, linens, wine, fruit, veggies, poultry, and materials for the pharmacy including herbs, leeches, and lancets. The notary dealt with legal matters, such as wills, leases, and contracts regarding property of the dead. …

Art and Architecture: The Institution

In the fifteenth century, the hospital enjoyed remarkable economic prosperity and even received a visit from Pope Martin V (1369-1431) in 1419. In 1420 the addition of the cloister of the medical center by Bicci di Lorenzo (1373-1452) marked a major transformation and expansion of the original building. The addition still has a terracotta lunette depicting the Pietà by Giovanni della Robbia (1469-1529) and clay sculpture with the Madonna with Child (18 BC- 33AD) and two angels, attributed to Michelozzo (1396-1472). In the early decades of the fifteenth century the aisles were decorated by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini (1340-1414) with frescoes that are now partially preserved in the original locations and some were detached and placed in the living room of Pope Martin V where they now have the office of the hospital president. In the Cloister of the Bones was a detached fresco representing Last Judgment by Fra Bartolomeo (1472-1517), now at San Marco Museum.

Bernardo Buontalenti (1531-1608) painted frescoes in the walls and ceiling of the women's ward

These works have been moved to the Pinacoteca of the Spedale degli Innocenti. Bernardo Buontalenti designed the large porch that is the main entrance to the hospital and regrettably did not live long enough to see its implementation. Construction of the porch was begun in 1611 by Giulio Parigi (1571-1635) and finally brought to completion in 1960. Later in the 1660s, the old lanes of the women's ward were replaced by Giovanni Battista Pieratti with a new more spacious environment.

In the administrative hall (room and lounge of the hospital president), which are accessed by a staircase in the Cloister of Bones, there are frescos and other works from the facade of the Church of Sant'Egidio and from other monasteries. The works in this hall are/have been:

"The Crucifixion with Saints Romuald and John the Baptist" by Andrea del Castagno (1440-1444), now in the cloister of the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. …