- Badia Fiorentina
" in the church.
History
The abbey was founded as a
Benedictine institution in 978 byWilla, Margravine of Tuscany , in commemoration of her late husband Uberto, and was one of the chief buildings of medieval Florence. A hospital was founded in the abbey in 1071. The church bell marked the main divisions of the Florentine day. Between 1284 and 1310 the Romanesque church was rebuilt in Gothic style, but in 1307 part of the church was demolished to punish the monks for non-payment of taxes. The church underwent aBaroque transformation between 1627 and 1631. The prominentcampanile , completed between 1310 and 1330, is Romanesque at its base and Gothic in its upper stages. Its construction was overseen by the famous chroniclerGiovanni Villani .Artworks
Major works of art in the church include the "Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard" (c. 1486) by
Filippino Lippi and the tombs of Willa's sonUgo, Margrave of Tuscany (died 1001) and the lawyer and diplomatBernardo Giugni (1396–1456), both byMino da Fiesole (latter completed c. 1466). The murals in the apse were completed byGiovanni Domenico Ferretti in 1734.The attached Chiostro degli Aranci (Cloister of the Oranges) contains a fresco cycle (1436–1439) on the life of St Benedict, largely by Giovanni di Consalvo, a generally unknown follower of
Fra Angelico . The cycles also include a panel from 1526-1528 ("St. Benedict chastising himself") by the youngBronzino . The cloister itself was designed byBernardo Rossellino .cite book | first=Guido | last=Zucconi | year= 1995| title=Florence: An Architectural Guide | publisher=Arsenale Editrice srl | location=San Giovanni Lupatoto, Vr, Italy | id=ISBN 88-7743-147-4] [*cite book | first= Eve|last= Borsook| year=1991| title= The Companion Guide to Florence, 5th Edition| editor = Vincent Cronin | pages= page pages 90-92| publisher= HarperCollins; New York| id= | url= ]References
External links
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