inSPIREd Sunday

Sally and Beth host inSPIREd Sunday!  

May 2019 - Florence Italy

The Basilica della Santissima Annunziata (Basilica of the Most Holy Annunciation) is a Renaissance-style, Roman Catholic minor basilica.

The church was founded in 1250 by the seven original members of the Servite Order. In 1252, a painting of the Annunciation had been begun by a friar Bartolomeo, commissioned by the Servite monks. It is said he despaired about being able to paint a virgin with a beautiful enough face, and fell asleep, only to find the painting completed. This miracle he attributed to an angel.

From the portico we enter the cloister, known as the cloister of the ‘Voti’, because it used to be filled with votive pictures and wax statues decorated with precious ornaments.
Today it is famous especially for its magnificent frescoes: the earliest is Alesso Baldovinetti’s Nativity, painted in 1460; Cosimo Rosselli’s Calling of St. Philip Benizzi dates from 1476; the other episodes from the life of the Saint were painted by the young Andrea del Sarto in 1510.

This church is entered from the Chiostrino dei Voti. The Baroque decoration of the church interior was begun in 1644, when Pietro Giambelli frescoed the ceiling with an Assumption as a centerpiece based on designs by Baldassare Franceschini.

The 1st chapel to right contains a Madonna in Glory by Jacopo da Empoli, with walls frescoed by Matteo Rosselli. The 5th chapel on the right contains a Monument to Orlando de' Medici (1456) by Bernardo Rossellino. The right transept has a small side chapel has a Pietà (1559) by Baccio Bandinelli and graces his tomb.