Basilica di San Lorenzo, with its elegant Renaissance campanile, unfinished west front and shady cloister, in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. Immediately adjoining the basilica is the immense dome of the Baroque Capella dei Principi or Chapel of the Princes. The basilica, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 - 1446) and constructed from 1421 until 1461, was a parish church for the Medici dynasty. The capella, built in the early 1600s, was a mausoleum for the Grand Dukes of Tuscany.
Florence, Tuscany, Italy: Baroque Capella dei Principi or Chapel of the Princes, built in the early 1600s, with its immense red-tiled dome, and the adjoining Renaissance Basilica di San Lorenzo, built in the early 1400s, with its elegant campanile, unfinished facade and shady cloister. The Basilica di San Lorenzo was consecrated in 393 by Saint Ambrose of Milan and stood as the cathedral of Florence for about 300 years before the title was transferred. The building seen today was a parish church for the Medici dynasty. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 - 1446) and constructed from 1421 until 1461. After Brunelleschi’s death, the project was continued by his biographer and heir Antonio Manetti (1423 - 1497). The west front was left uncompleted. The Capella dei Principi is the mausoleum of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. In 1520, Pope Leo X, himself a Medici, asked Michelangelo to design a funeral chapel for illustrious family members. Michelangelo built a New Sacristy for this purpose, on the opposite side of the Basilica di San Lorenzo’s transept to an existing Sacristy. However, much more imposing and opulent than Michelangelo’s work was the Baroque Chapel of the Princes. The Chapel’s dome was supposed to be covered in lapis lazuli and gilded bronze. There was also a plan to place the Holy Sepulchre from Jerusalem in the centre. All these exotic plans came to nothing, but the dimensions of the immense octagonal building remain impressive: it is 28 metres (92 feet) wide and its dome is 59 metres (194 feet) high.
Size: 4157px × 2766px
Location: Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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