Chiesa degli Ognissanti

The Chiesa di Ognissanti is situated in Via Borgognissanti, n. 42, close to the same name square, in the neighbourhood of the Lungarno Amerigo Vespucci.

The Church was a section of a monastic complex founded in the second half of the 13th century by the Minor “Ordine degli Umiliati” (order of the Umiliati) and is devoted “Ad Honorem Sanctorum Omnium” (to pay homage to all the Saints). The Order had been instituted in Milan and was approved on June 1201 by Pope Innocence III.
The Umiliati arrived to Florence in 1238 ca. They were specially noted by their extreme austerity and by their intense manual labour mainly based in the production of woollen clothes and glass. It is believed that the Umiliati founded the first wool industry in Tuscany. The effort was consecrated to the Lord and the largest part of the benefits of their pieces of craftsmanship went to charity between the indigents. A considerable number of intellectuals entered in the Order. Among them one of the most celebrated maybe was Bonvesin Da La Riva (1240ca.-1315 ca.), member of a well-known Milanese family, who became a noteworthy grammarian, philosopher and poet. His most divulged work is the “Libro delle tre scritture” (Book of the Three Writings) dated 1274. The work, written in vernacular poetry, has three sections: The pains of Hell, The happiness of Heaven, and The Passion.    

In a brief time, the Umiliati became very popular and appreciated by the Florentines who made important donations for the construction of their religious site. In due course, their praiseworthy way of life and their ideal evangelical concept of serving the humanity by means of the Church would brought the Order into a critical situation with the most politicised high ecclesiastic hierarchies, who started by excommunicating many of their members and, subsequently, accusing them of heresy. The practically extinction of the Umiliati Order arose in the 16th century. 

The construction of the Church di Ognissanti, underwent from 1252 to 1255 ca
Between 1620 and 1630 it was entirely rebuilt - commissioned by the Franciscan Order who had replaced the Umiliati in 1560 ca. - on Baroque style on a design by Bartolomeo Pettirossi, being one of the first Florentine’s Baroque churches. The Church was renamed San Salvatore a Ognissanti.
The new façade was designed and built under the conduction of the prestigious architect Matteo Nigetti in 1637. Over the doorway, Nigetti kept the splendid terracotta glazed lunette, attributed to the Florentine sculptor Benedetto Buglioni (1459-1521).  
To the left of the Church there is the original bell tower built on the 13th century.

In the indoors, the apse was entirely reconstructed and the High Altar was rebuilt into a variety of flinted stones designed by the celebrated painter Jacopo Ligozzi, at the end of the 16th century.  The “Madonna col Bambino e Angeli” by Giotto (1310 ca.) which originally ornamented the High Altar is currently preserved in the Uffizi Museum.
The vaulted nave ceiling offers a tear-off perspective, which is the most important one in being in Florence’s churches. It was frescoed by Giuseppe Romei in 1769 ca. and shows its magnificent “La Gloria di S. Francesco d’Assisi”.

 “La Madonna della Misericordia e della Pietà” (1472 ca.) is a teamwork by the brothers Domenico and Davide Ghirlandaio.  The wonderful fresco is located above the altar of the Vespucci Chapel. It presents several members of the Vespucci family, who had a special devotion to this Church, having always been one of its main benefactors. An adolescent Amerigo Vespucci can be identified under the protection of the Madonna.

The next Chapel hosts “La Madonna in Trono” (1565) by Santi di Tito.
The following Chapel houses “Il Martirio di S. Andrea” by Matteo Rosselli (1578-1650).

Above the confessionals there are two wonderful frescoes: “S. Girolamo” by Domenico Ghirlandaio and “S. Agostino nel suo Studio” by Sandro Botticelli.
The talented Sandro Botticcelli (by name of Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, Florence, 1445 - Florence, 1510) is buried under a tombstone in the second chapel of the right transept.

The first chapel to the left preserves the habit worn by S. Francesco d’Assisi when he received the Holy Stigmata, the 29th September 1224, while he was fasting on devotion to the Archangel S. Michael on the Mount della Verna, situated in the Tuscan territory of Casentino.  

 In the Sacristy there are many artworks from the Early Renaissance. The most relevant are:
A “Crucifixion” by the Tuscan architect and painter Taddeo Gaddi (1300ca.-1366) and another one attributed to a follower of Giotto, as well as “La Resurrezione e l’Ascensione” by Agnolo Gaddi (1350 ca.- 1396), son of Taddeo Gaddi.
     
The Refectory is situated between the two cloisters of the former Convent. The huge room has a superb entry door in malleable stone with a washbasin included in each side, dated 1479 ca.
The large vaulted niches are ornamented with frescoes by Giuseppe Romei (1770 ca.) depicting some biblical episodes related to water’s intensity.
Covering an entire wall of the Refectory there is an imposing masterpiece by Domenico Ghirlandaio: “L’Ultima Cena” (The Last Supper).
Jesus and the Apostles are sitting at a lengthy table placed opposite to the back wall of the room. In the centre of the wall there is a large pointed open window from which is visible an allegorical grove to the Olive Mount.
Jesus is sitting in the centre. To his left is S. John and to his right S. Peter. Judas Iscariot is separated from the other Apostles, being seated in front of the table.

Domenico Ghirlandaio painted this scene several times along his life. At the present, only three of them still exist and they are all preserved in Tuscany. The first one, which is a teamwork with his brother Davide, is dated 1476 and is hosted in the Refectory of the Badia dei Santi Michele e Biagio situated in Passignano sul Trasimeno. The second one (1480) is conserved in the Refectory which we are referring to and is somewhat bigger than the other two. The third one (1486) is housed in the Florentine Church of San Marco.

West Side of Florence

The Cathedrals : Basilica di Santa Maria Novella , Chiesa Santa Trinitá , Chiesa Ognissanti

Main Monuments :Piazza della Repubblica

Main Streets : Via Tornabuoni , Parco delle Cascine

Main Museums : Museo Marino Marini

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