Santa Maria dei Candeli

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Initially founded in 13-14th centuries as a convent; the present structure was enlarged starting 1558, with a radical rebuilding in 1703 by the Baroque artist Giovanni Battista Foggini. The ceiling is frescoed with a the "Assumption" by Niccolò Lapi, the right wall houses a "St. Clair" by Francesco Botti and a "St. Augustine" by Jacopo Vignali. The main altarpiece is an "Immaculate Conception" by Carlo Sacconi, flanked by a "Transit with St. Joseph" by Tommaso Redi.

The monastic order was suppressed by the Napoleonic occupation, and became successively an orphanage, an asylum, and finally a lyceum for training policemen. Renaissance frescoes detached from the refectory depict a "Last supper", "Annunciation", and "Adoration of the Bambino", formerly attributed to Franciabigio, but which some now attribute to Giovanni Antonio Sogliani.

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 249