Santa Trinita

The church of Santa Trinita ("Holy Trinity") is a church in central Florence, Italy. It is the mother church of the Vallumbrosan Order of monks founded in 1092 by a Florentine nobleman. Nearby is the famous Ponte Santa Trinita over the river Arno.

The church is famous for its Sassetti Chapel, containing notable frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio, who are amongst 15th century painting's masterworks.

Even though the Italian word for "trinity" is "trinità", with an accent indicating stress on the last vowel, the Florentine pronunciation puts the stress on the "first" vowel, and the name is therefore written without an accent; sometimes, it is accented as "trìnita" to indicate the unusual pronunciation.

History

The current church was constructed over 11th century churches in 1258–1280. Multiple reconstructions occurred thereafter. The Mannerist façade (1593–1594) was designed by Bernardo Buontalenti. The relief over the central door of the "Trinity" was sculpted by Pietro Bernini and Caccini. The 17th century wooden doors were carved to recall saints of the Vallumbrosan order. The Column of Justice in the Piazza outside, originates from the Baths of Caracalla, and was a gift to Cosimo I de' Medici by Pope Pius IV. It was used in 1565 to commemorate the Battle of Montemurlo.

Chapels

The church has approximately 20 chapels, which contain a noteworthy amount of artworks. The most significant are the Sassetti and the Bartolini-Salimbeni which contain frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio and the Quattrocento artist Lorenzo Monaco respectively. Francesco Sassetti had been a manager of the Medici bank. The Ghirlandaio frescoes use as backgrounds the then contemporary Florentine city views.

References

*cite book | first= Eve|last= Borsook| year=1991| title= "The Companion Guide to Florence"| publisher= Harper Collins| editor= Vincent Cronin (general editor)| id=ISBN000215139-1 | url= | authorlink= |pages= pages 187-191