Santa Rosa, Florence, Religious shrine in Florence, Italy.
Santa Rosa is a tabernacle set in a 14th-century tower at the end of the San Frediano walls near the Arno, by Porta San Frediano. The tower, built during the last city wall works (1282–1333), now holds an 1856 aedicula with a fresco of the Pietà with Saints John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene, attributed to Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio (early 16th century).
The tower was built between 1282 and 1333 during the construction of Florence's last city wall, at the corner where the San Frediano wall meets the Arno. It was called Torre della Guardia for its watch function and Torre della Sardigna after the rubbish and animal carcasses dumped outside the walls nearby. The 1856 aedicule holds a fresco of the Pietà with Saints John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene, attributed to Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio and detached in 1957 from the demolished oratory of Santa Rosa.
The shrine is also called the Madonna del Cantone, and the fresco inside is attributed to Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio. Members of the Compagnia di Santa Rosa gathered around this image, to which miraculous powers were attributed. The painting was detached in 1957 from the oratory of Santa Rosa da Viterbo, demolished in 1743.
The tabernacle sits in the Torrino di Santa Rosa, the tower at the end of the San Frediano stretch of the 14th-century walls, near Porta San Frediano and the Arno. It is an outdoor wall shrine, so it can be viewed at any time from the street; the 1856 aedicule frames the fresco.
The tower was also called Torre della Sardigna, meaning tower of refuse, because the area outside the walls here was used as a dump for rubbish and dead animals. The fresco inside was detached in 1957 from the nearby oratory of Santa Rosa da Viterbo, demolished in 1743.
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