5 - BASILICA(ABBEY) DEL CARMINE  AND BRANCACCI CHAPELS

Florence - Carmine Abbey and brancacci chapel

Abby of Santa Maria del Carmine

The Abby of Holy Mary of Carmine is dedicate to the blessed Virgin Of Carmelo and was founded in 1268 together the annexed convent still in activity. The holy complex was enlarged indifferent times. The first when they had permission to use the fields closed by the fifth city walls. The second in 1464 when they added the refectory and the capitol hall. The convent grown up till the XVII Century. In 1490 the first cloister was restored and between 1600 and 1612 was built the second cloister following the original style of the church. In 1771 a real drama happened. During the realization of the new ceiling a blaze destroyed the church almost completely and just fortunately saving Brancacci Chapel together the vestry. Inside of it the story of S.Cecilia painted in frescoes (of Filippo D'Andrea, 1400 about). Saved was also the marble monument of Piero Soderini (sculptured by Benedetto da Rovezzano, 1512-1513)m behind the main altar. The restoring works under project of Giuseppe Ruggieri ended in 1782 by Giulio Mannaioni and they were limited to the inner side of the church lefting undone the façade.

The Brancacci Chapel

The Brancacci Chapel was saved different times. After the blaze described before, there was a work of inner restoring which had to cover all the paintings in frescoes inside the chapel. Saving the frescoes was in regards of a Florentine noblewoman which set herself hard in opposition to any works of covering the frescoers inside the Brancacci Chapel. Well those frescoes are really masterpieces of renaissance Italian art. The biggest part, painted by Masaccio and Masolino, the chapel was completed by Filippo Lippi. Michelangelo came often in the chapel to study and copy the frescoes to find inspiration for his future works. You can access the Brancacci Chapel from a door on the left side of the abbey.

Even the convent save many objects d'art, most of them painted in frescoes. Among them, stand out the “giving the Carmelo rule” by Filippo Lippi and “The last supper” by Alessandro Allori. The biggest part of finds come from the Chapels and the church like some of the fragments exposed in the “Culumn Hall”, by Pietro Nelli (1385). The fragments exposed in Pugliese Chapel, were painted by Starnina in about 1404. The second refectory is painted in frescoes representing the dinner in Simon Pharisee by Giovan Battista Vanni (1645). In this room there are exposed some other frescoes removed from the Nerli Chappel representing sotryes of Christ passion by Filippo d'Andrea (1402