Basilica of San Lorenzo, Renaissance church in central Florence, Italy
The Basilica of San Lorenzo is a large church of rough brown and tan stone blocks in central Florence, its tall flat facade left unfinished and pierced by a wide recessed arch. Behind it rise a ribbed dome with a small lantern and cross, and a campanile of 1740. Inside, gray pietra serena columns on short plinths carry semicircular arches, and the nave has a flat coffered ceiling with gold rosettes on white.
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 church is the parish church of the Medici family, and its name comes from Saint Lawrence, to whom the first cathedral on the site was consecrated in 393. The Old Sacristy, finished in 1428, holds Donatello's bronze reliefs of Saint John's life and served as the Medici private memorial chapel; the funeral rites of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici were held there in 1429. The San Lorenzo market still occupies the square beside the church.
The unfinished outer facade faces Piazza San Lorenzo, where the daily market stalls stand; the main entrances are the three doors of Michelangelo's inner facade. The Old Sacristy opens off the south transept, while the Medici Chapels and the Laurentian Library have separate entrances and tickets. The nave, aisles and chapels involve steps and uneven floors.
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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