Santa Maria Novella, Florence

A short history

The Dominicans built the basilica in the 13th and 14th centuries. The lower façade is Gothic, with striped white and green marble arches; the upper part was completed in 1458–1470 by Leon Battista Alberti, the Renaissance architectural theorist, who married old and new with a classical pediment and great side volutes later copied by hundreds of churches across Europe.

Wealthy families — the Tornabuoni, Strozzi and Rucellai — built chapels and hired the finest painters, making Santa Maria Novella a museum of painting from Giotto to Ghirlandaio; it also gave its name to the square and the city's main station.

The masterpieces

On the left aisle wall is Masaccio's Trinity of about 1427, one of the first paintings built on linear perspective — a deep vaulted chapel seems to open in the wall, and contemporaries flocked to see the illusion. A large painted crucifix by Giotto, an early work, hangs in the middle of the nave.

Behind the high altar, the Tornabuoni Chapel has Domenico Ghirlandaio's frescoes of the lives of the Virgin and John the Baptist, acted out by 15th-century Florentines in fine dress; the young Michelangelo trained in his workshop at the time. Nearby is the Strozzi Chapel with frescoes by Filippino Lippi.

What to see

• Masaccio's Trinity — the Renaissance's first perspective.
• Giotto's crucifix — suspended mid-nave.
• Tornabuoni Chapel — Ghirlandaio's frescoes.
• Strozzi Chapel — Filippino Lippi's frescoes.
• The Green Cloister — Paolo Uccello's frescoes.
• The Spanish Chapel — vast 14th-century frescoes.

The cloisters

The ticket also opens the monastery museum: the Green Cloister, named after the greenish Genesis frescoes by Paolo Uccello, and the Spanish Chapel, a chapter house painted top to bottom in the 14th century with the triumph of the Dominican order and a view of Florence with the cathedral still under construction. It's cool and peaceful after the busy station square, where two marble obelisks on bronze turtles once marked a chariot-race course.

Is Santa Maria Novella worth it?

Yes — especially if you arrive by train: it's steps from the station and holds some of the Renaissance's most important paintings, with far fewer crowds than the cathedral or the Uffizi, so you can study the frescoes in peace. Pair it with the historic pharmacy and a walk to the Duomo for a fine start to a Florence day.

Florence's churches: compare and choose

Churches and basilicas in Florence rated by YesGo. Click a column header to sort.

Nearby and on the way

43

Medici Chapels

Florence, Italy

1 h · Paid · 5 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Medici Chapels

46

Basilica of San Lorenzo

Florence, Italy

45 min · Paid · 6 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Basilica of San Lorenzo

38

Palazzo Strozzi

Florence, Italy

1 h 15 min · Courtyard free, exhibitions paid · 7 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Palazzo Strozzi

44

Laurentian Library

Florence, Italy

30 min · Paid · 7 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Laurentian Library

How to do it right

• 2 minutes from the station.
• Masaccio's Trinity — left aisle.
• The pharmacy is free to enter.
• Fewer crowds than the Duomo.

Questions