21 Santa Maria Novella

ONE OF THE GREAT JOYS OF Italian travel is arriving by train to Florence, emerging from the stazione, and winding around to stand before the Church of the New Saint Mary: Santa Maria Novella. It’s a dazzle of emerald and ivory marble, blending Gothic and Renaissance styles, dedicated to the Madonna of the Assumption, and packed with art inspired by the BVM.

This was the first great Florentine Basilica. Dominican friars, famous for their passionate preaching, began the project in 1279, to make room for their many followers. At the time, Florence was just a collection of humble huts, and Santa Maria Novella brought in a new architecture that the Dominican friars had seen while studyng in Bologna, Paris, and Cologne. The grandiose building kicked off the city’s rise to glamorous fame and was further adorned in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Breakthrough art appears inside, which showcases the beginnings of the Renaissance. The most stunning examples are Giotto’s crucifix, hanging in the center of the church, and on the left wall, Masaccio’s 3D Trinity that astounded viewers with its masterful use of perspective.

Here are some female highlights:

Cappella Tornabuoni

Behind the central altar you’ll discover this chapel, dedicated to the Madonna of the Assumption, covered with masterpiece frescoes by Renaissance artist Ghirlandaio and his workshop. Among his students was fourteen-year-old Michelangelo, who Ghirlandaio threw off the project when the young artist boldly began to redraw his designs.

Giovanni Tornabuoni, a big shot in the Medici banking world, commissioned this late fifteenth-century chapel. While today we associate Tornabuoni with the famous Via—Florence’s fanciest shopping street—back then these frescoes are what shouted out the greatness of the Tornabuoni family. Giovanni probably chose Ghirlandaio for the job because the artist had a talent for portrait painting, and slipped in figures of family members throughout the biblical scenes. It’s a great way to see how Florentines were dressing in those days (1486-1490), and Ghirlandaio’s warm, clear style brings a deep humanity to every frame.

Focusing on the center of the chapel, in a lower panel, you’ll see Giovanni kneeling, opposite his wife, Francesca Pitti, who died in childbirth in 1477.

The Life of the Virgin is told in the left fresco cycle. Starting at the bottom you’ll see her birth, then presentation in the temple, annunciation, marriage, the birth of Christ, and her assumption into heaven. Curved above the window is her triumphant coronation.

On the right, the story continues with the Life of John the Baptist, aka Giovanni the Baptist, which donor Giovanni Tornabuouni probably also appreciated. Here you’ll see the Visitation, where Mary greets Elizabeth, who at an advanced age finds out she’s pregnant with John the Baptist.

Focusing on Tornabuoni Ladies

Giovanna degli Albizi can be seen in the Visitation, on the right, in sharp profile, wearing a golden brocade gown with her hair done up in a lovely braided-up do. She was from a noble family that held power before the Medici, and her beauty was legendary, not only in Florence, but all over Europe. She married Lorenzo Tornabuoni in an extravagant 1486 celebration, gave birth to a son, and then tragically in 1488, at the age of 20, died in childbirth with her second pregnancy. This portrait is a homage to her, and Ghirlandaio even included an inscription—a line from a Roman poet, that translates to: Art, if only you could portray mores and spirit, there would be no more beautiful picture on earth.
Dianora Tornabuoni, the patron’s sister, also appears in the Visitation, as the veiled woman dressed in black to the right of Giovanna, in the days when wives wore veils.
Lucrezia Tornabuoni, another sister of Giovanni, appears in the Birth of John the Baptist—she’s the older woman wearing blue shoes. Lucrezia was the wife of Piero de Medici, mother of Lorenzo the Magnificent—a noble, artsy woman who wrote sonnets.
Ludovica Tornabuoni, Giovanni’s only daughter, is painted in the fresco on the lower left: the Birth of Mary. Ludovica stands in profile, with her hair in a long braid, wearing a dress similar to the beautiful Giovanna degli Albizi. Since Ludovica was only about 14 at the time of the painting, it must have been quite flattering to her (and her donor father) to be associated with the glamorous Giovanna.

The Tornabuoni chapel also honors the BVM with stained glass windows, designed by Ghirlandaio. One depicts the assumption, another the miraculous Madonna of the Snow, and another is of Mary giving her girdle (belt) to Saint Thomas—you can read more about that girdle in the Prato chapter.

Rucellai Chapel

On the right side of the main altar, you’ll find this chapel dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexander, the fourth-century martyr. She was a virgin beauty, devoted to Christ, who was condemned to death on a spiked wheel by the Emperor Maxentius. Miraculously, the wheel broke, so she was then beheaded. The painting is credited to Bugiardini, and many experts believe Michelangelo helped him out.

Tomb of Beata Villana

On the right side of the basilica, you’ll find the elaborate marble tomb of an almost-saint from the fourteenth century. Villana delle Botti was born to a wealthy merchant family, but shunned all the riches, preferring fasting and hair shirts. Her parents were not on board with the piety behavior and married her off to a noble family. Surprisingly Villana didn’t put up a fight, and blended into the world of elegance. That is until one day when she was all dolled up and took a look at herself in the mirror. To her horror, a demonic reflection appeared. She ordered her servants to bring another mirror, but the demon in the mirror persisted. When a third mirror brought the same result, Villana stripped off her gown, ran to Santa Maria Novella to confess her sins, put on a hair shirt and returned to a life of penitence and prayer, helping the poor. She went overboard with the fasting, died at 28, and was buried here. Her devoted grandson began a Villana cult, which attracted lots of followers, and in 1824 she was beatified.

Outside the basilica, other treasures glorifying females:

Cappella Della Pura
This small chapel can be entered free from Via Avelli, through the Arch of the Faithful entrance. It’s kept by the Dominicans as a beautiful spot for prayer, with a fourteenth-century fresco of the Madonna and Child and St. Catherine.
Spanish Chapel
Don’t miss the amazing fourteenth-century frescos in this chapel adjoining the Green Cloister, featuring jewel-toned images by Andrea di Boniauto, which illustrate the very complex philosophy of the Dominicans. It was renamed the Spanish Chapel in the sixteenth century, when it was given to Eleonora Toledo, who came from Spain to marry Cosimo de Medici and brought her Spanish entourage with her. (Read more about Eleonora in the Pitti Palace Costume Gallery chapter.)

Check out the women in the right wall fresco: The Church Militant, Church Triumphant. My eye is always drawn to those dancing beauties in the middle of it. According to the Dominicans, these women symbolize the perils of seductive pleasures—such as Lust, symbolized by the woman in the red dress with the monkey on her lap.

On the lower left there are four legendary women gathered to the side of the Duomo: Villana (in the black veil, whose story is told above) and stars of beloved poets: Dante’s Beatrice, Boccaccio’s Fiammetta, and Petrarch’s Laura.

In the main altar fresco, the Triumph of the Catholic Doctrine, fourteen maidens are lined up on thrones, symbolizing good things, according to the Dominicans: the Sacred Sciences and the Liberal Arts—aspects of the intellect, which Dominicans believed should be perfected to reach God’s salvation. There are stands with charts that will tell you all the characters and their meanings, but I believe you’d have to be a Dominican monk to absorb that all in one visit.

Santa Maria Novella: Piazza Santa Maria Novella, open Monday-Thursay 9-5:30, Friday 11-5:30, Saturday 9-5, Sunday (after morning mass) noon-5 (www.chiesasantamarianovella.it)

Golden Day: Allow yourself an hour or more to visit the basilica and cloisters. Depending upon the time of day, you may want to head for a delicious Tuscan lunch at Trattoria al Trebbio (Via delle Belle Donne 47/49R, 055 287 089, closed Tuesday lunch). Or if you’re more in the mood for a chic cocktail experience, slip into the Hotel Brunelleschi’s Tower Bar (Piazza Sant’Elisabetta 3, 055 27370).

TIP: There are two entrances to the complex: One from Piazza Santa Maria Novella and one from the Piazza della Stazione, just opposite the train station, next to the Tourist Information office. I’ve found the entrance from Piazza della Stazione to often be less crowded, and this is also the entrance that Florence Card holders must use.