Cappella Corsini, Baroque chapel in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy.
Cappella Corsini is a square Baroque chapel at the head of the left transept of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence. Four arches spring from sculpted corner pilasters to support a dome with eight rectangular windows. Three monumental side altars have columns of red Seravezza marble and broken white Carrara marble pediments; the central altar is inlaid with lapis lazuli and other hardstones.
The chapel was designed by Pier Francesco Silvani in the late 17th century, with sculptor Giovanni Battista Foggini completing the decorative work in 1683. The project reflected the artistic ambitions of Florence during the Baroque period.
The chapel is dedicated to Saint Andrea Corsini, canonized in 1629 by Pope Urban VIII. In 1683 Grand Duchess Vittoria della Rovere gave the Carmine church a mitre set with precious stones to place on the saint's head, and Pope Clement XII donated a chalice that the friars of the Santissima Annunziata lent to the Carmine for the feast of Saint Andrea.
The chapel occupies the head of the left transept of Santa Maria del Carmine, entered from the nave; the Brancacci Chapel is in the same transept. The Corsini crypt lies beneath the floor, reached by a small stair through a trapdoor in front of the altar, and is not normally open. The bronze floor inscription before the altar records the completion in 1683 and the patrons.
The dome fresco of 1682 was Luca Giordano's first work in Florence; its impact on the local school came from combining Lanfranco's Roman models with Cortona's manner and a bright, light-filled colour range. The pendentives show the Four Virtues.
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