With its splendid formal purity and unmistakeable design of the beautiful 14th century facade, Santa Maria Novella reconfirms the inestimable value of the city’s artistic patrimony.
Michelangelo used to call it “my bride”, and we can easily guess why: because being both a Gothic and Renaissance architectural masterpiece, the church holds within it works by Giotto, Masaccio, Ghirlandaio and Brunelleschi. In the convent next door, illustrious researchers have toiled over the centuries – even Dante is said to have taken his first steps as a poet here.
As Santa Croce in Florence was the reference point for Franciscan culture, so Santa Maria Novella was the beating heart of another order taking vows of poverty, the Dominicans.In 1219, the first twelve preaching monks arrived in Bologna. A small church outside the walls of the city was assigned to them. This was a Florence that we need to imagine as being much smaller than what we see today. In accordance with the rules of the Order, Dominican buildings were required to have a modest look and dimensions: the walls of the convents couldn’t be longer than 30 meters, church ceilings could not be vaulted. But Dominican sermons, impassioned and captivating, brought together crowds that grew more and more numerous, so large, in fact, that their simple buildings certainly couldn’t hold them. It took special permission from the pope to go against the rules of the order and allow the friars to build a “novella” or “new” church. And any citizen who contributed to the works was even granted an indulgence.