Address: Piazza Santa Croce
The Church of
Santa Croce
is both a fine example of Italian Gothic architecture and a
museum in its own right of fourteenth century painting. Adjoining
it and the famous Renaissance Chapel of the Pazzi (c. 1430) by
Brunelleschi,
is the
Museo dell'Opera di Santa Croce, rearranged after the
grave damage of the 1966 flood. The museum has many important
Florentine works from the church and adjacent cloisters, while
the large crucifixion by Cimabue (active 1372-1302) seriously
damaged by the flood is in the Refectory. Despite its sadly
damaged state it confirms Cimabue's position as the father of
Western painting.
Detached frescoes by Taddeo Gaddi (c. 1290- 1366) and Orcagna
(fourteenth century) found under sixteenth century whitewash are
shown nearby with a group of important sculptures. Among these
are glazed terracottas from the Della Robbia studio and the tomb
of Gastone delle Torre by Tino da Camaino (c. 1280-1337). Perhaps
the best piece is the large gilded bronze of St. Louis of
Toulouse by the greatest Florentine Renaissance sculptor
Donatello. Executed in 1423, it comes from a niche on
Orsanmichele.
