Chapel of Filippo Strozzi, Renaissance chapel in Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, Italy

The Chapel of Filippo Strozzi occupies a tall, narrow bay in the right transept of Santa Maria Novella, framed by grey stone piers. Its walls are covered with painted panels and architectural ornament around a pointed-arch stained-glass window in blue, red and yellow, divided into stacked scenes. Below the window sits a round-arched aedicule with pale stone carving and a circular emblem, and the ribbed vault above carries painted panels.

Filippo Strozzi commissioned this chapel in 1486 after obtaining patronage rights, hiring the artist Filippino Lippi to paint the frescoes. This artistic partnership shaped the chapel's appearance and made it a landmark of Florentine Renaissance art.

The chapel is also called after Saint John the Evangelist, its patron before Filippo Strozzi bought the rights from the Boni family in 1486. The vault shows the Strozzi heraldic crescents between masks and palmettes, and Jacob leans over a book inscribed HEC EST DOMUS DEI ET PORTA COELI.

The chapel sits between the Bardi Chapel and the Tornabuoni Chapel in the right transept and is accessible as part of daily visits to the basilica. Guided tours of the church offer additional context about the artworks and the architectural details you see throughout.

Vasari tells that a young assistant of Filippino Lippi mistook the painted hole in the step of the altar for a real opening and tried to hide an object in it. The fresco shows Saint Philip expelling the dragon from the temple of Hierapolis, with the statue of Mars at the centre.