Florence - San Marco

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San Marco Description

The church of San Marco, built in 1299 by the Silvestrine order of monks, was transferred along with the monastery to the Dominicans of Fiesole by Pope Eugene IV in 1436, the year of the Cathedral's consecration. Thanks to the generosity of Cosimo the Elder the church was largely reconstructed and the monastery was completely rebuilt. The work was entrusted to the architect Michelozzo (1431-1452). Giambologna added the side altars, the Chapel of St Antonino and the Salviati Chapel in 1588. The church underwent alterations by Pier Francesco Silvani in 1678 and the façade was reworked in 1780.

The monastery is built around the church. The oldest part contains the Museo di San Marco, while the monks live in the rest.

Hobbies & Activities category: Christian sites

San Marco Highlights

Museo di San Marco

The monastery of San Marco, built in Renaissance style by Michelozzo, with its superb collection of paintings and frescoes, gives a more focussed impression of the spiritual life of the Dominicans

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Chapterhouse

The whole of one wall of the chapterhouse, where the monks confessed and atoned for their sins, is taken up by Fra Angelico's fresco of the "Crucifixion".

Cloister of St Antonino

Immediately opposite the entrance can be seen the fresco "St Dominic at the Foot of the Cross"; diagonally opposite the entrance, in the lunette, is the fresco "Ecce Homo", both by Fra Angelico.

Dormitorium

There are over 40 cells on the first floor adorned with frescos by Fra Angelico and his pupils. His style is unmistakable in all the paintings and frescoes. He transforms the austere and stiff

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Great Refectory

Works worth seeing in the Great Refectory include Fra Bartolommeo's fresco of the "Last Judgment".

Library

The great hall of the library, the work of Michelozzo (1444), is notable for the austere beauty of its architecture and contains valuable manuscripts, missals and bibles.

Pilgrim's Hospice

Here there are panels by Fra Angelico from various museums in Florence, including "Madonna dei Linaioli" (1436, commissioned from Angelico by the linen weavers' guild), miniatures of the life of

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Sala dei Lavabo

Here there is another impressive work by Fra Bartolommeo, his large panel "Madonna with St Anne and other Saints" (1510).

Small Refectory

In the Small Refectory is a famous "Last Supper" by Ghirlandaio, similar to the one in the Ognissanti church.

Church Interior

The single-naved church holds valuable works of art. In the center of the interior facade there is an interesting "Crucifixion" in the style of Giotto. On the left side of the church there is the

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San Marco Convent

Michelozzo rebuilt and expanded this convent for Cosimo the Elder and it still contains the splendid frescoes that Beato Angelico painted to decorate the monks' cells. Inside there is also a

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Address

San Marco
Piazza San Marco 1
I-50100 Florence
Italy

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