Basilica of San Lorenzo, Renaissance church in central Florence, Italy
The Basilica of San Lorenzo is a Renaissance church in central Florence with gray pietra serena columns arranged throughout the interior. Natural light streams through clerestory windows and brightens the wide space with three aisles and flat coffered ceilings.
The church was consecrated in 393 by Saint Ambrose of Milan and served as the cathedral of Florence for three centuries. In the 15th century the Medici family commissioned Brunelleschi to rebuild it in Renaissance forms, leaving the facade unfinished to this day.
The Old Sacristy was designed by Brunelleschi between 1419 and 1428 and holds bronze reliefs by Donatello showing scenes from Saint John's life. This compact chapel presents the early ideas of Renaissance proportion in a room the Medici used as a private memorial space.
The church opens Monday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with separate tickets required for the Medici Chapels and the Laurentian Library. Visitors should wear comfortable shoes as the complex includes several levels and staircases.
A hidden corridor with drawings by Michelangelo was discovered in 1976 beneath the New Sacristy, where he took refuge during political turmoil in 1527. The rough charcoal sketches on the walls show figures and studies he made during his weeks in hiding.
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