The Medici at San Lorenzo
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Much like Italy in the time of the Renaissance, the Basilica di San Lorenzo underwent countless reconstructions, reformations, and additions in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. With every alteration or appendage, another artist or architect was introduced to San Lorenzo, each adding his own style to the structure that would eventually be referred to as “one of the masterpieces of the early Renaissance.”2 Despite the many different contributors to the multiple faces of San Lorenzo, there was one constant: the Medici family. This was a family that conducted the most prestigious patronage of its time, was responsible for the rebirth of the identity and significance of the church within the Florentine community, managed to embed its spirit within the foundation of the church both literally and metaphorically, and “so thoroughly made themselves one with Florence that her history and theirs are bound up together.”2
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[edit] The Basilica di San Lorenzo
Originally consecrated in 393 AD by Saint Ambrose as the first Christian church of Florence, the crumbling Basilica di San Lorenzo caught the attention of Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici as his family rose to power in the early 1400s. Understanding that it was becoming the “natural behavior of a nobleman to patronize architecture, and in fact a duty of his superior position,”1 Giovanni wanted to commission an artist of a metaphorically equal stature to his, someone with fresh ideas who would correspondingly contribute to the revival of Florence. In 1421, he found that person in Filippo Brunelleschi. With the designs of the sacristies and tombs within the church, Brunelleschi established a name for himself among the Medicis and more importantly, among the Florentinians.
Giovanni passed away in 1429, leaving the legacy of patronage to his son, Cosimo de' Medici. Cosimo shared Giovanni’s ambition to embellish the basilica and, along with other family members, “continued to pour Medici money into [it]”.12 Though there are still some chapels along the transept in San Lorenzo that are owned by other families, the Medici's endowment was unrivaled. Cosimo assumed property rights in 1442, and his dedicated sponsorship enabled the family to make what was previously a fullly public institution into a more familial edifice. Furthermore, he demanded that, "no family crest other than that of the Medici appear in the church."15 First in a long line of Medicis, Giovanni’s and his wife, Piccarda’s tombs’ placement in the newly finished sacristy (later coined, The Old Sacristy) served as the stepping-stone for the creation of the family tradition that “required that they should all be laid at last in San Lorenzo.”2
Brunelleschi was only able to oversee the construction of the transept and The Old Sacristy, and could not actually finish the work, dying in 1446. However, it is clear that his intentions and designs were successfully incorporated throughout his successors’ work on the church. The English traveler, Richard Symonds, commented on Brunelleschi’s design for San Lorenzo years after its completion:
“Not a form or detail in the whole church is at variance with classic precedent, and yet the general effect resembles nothing that we possess of antique work. It is a masterpiece of intelligent Renaissance adaptation.”2
[edit] The Old Sacristy
When Giovanni di Bicci de Medici commissioned Filippo Brunelleschi in 1421 to construct a church at the site of the old San Lorenzo chapel, the architect saw the project as a test of his “personal vision of a Florentine architecture renewed.”3 To the Medici, who supported Brunelleschi even when his temper violated others, the architect’s genius was a testament to the family’s civic and religious power and hope for continuing legacy within the city. The architecture of the sacristy is noted for the simplicity of its lower walls and the grandeur of the upper walls and ceiling, punctuated by rich entablature and pendentive detail. It is covered by a melon dome, a feature with no precedence in sacristies of the area- an element that further represents the distinction and authority of the Medici family. The building itself did not begin to function as a sacristy until its dedication in 1461, but served as Giovanni’s resting place before then, marking the beginning of its literal connection with the Medici family.
Donatello was commissioned to construct the bronze doors of the Old Sacristy, and was thought to have worked on them between 1434 and 1443, though the exact dates are not known. The doors consist of ten panels each, and each door has a different theme: one of martyrs, and one of saints. As the patron saint of Giovanni di Bicci, St. John the Baptist is placed prominently in the door of saints, and speculation exists as to whether he is represented on the door of martyrs as well. The doors portray death and resurrection, scenes appropriate for a funerary chapel.
[edit] The New Sacristy
The New Sacristy of the Basilica di San Lorenzo was commissioned originally in 1519 by Pope Leo X (Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici), son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. The Sacristy was built after the assassination of Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano because Giovanni wanted a proper resting place for the Medici. Building officially began on November 4, 1519 under Michelangelo’s leadership. Demolition of the church wall opposite the Old Sacristy and dismantling of the Nelli family’s surrounding houses was necessary to begin construction. The structure was completed in 1523. The New Sacristy was finished with the two colors of white plasterwork and grey sandstone, and roofed with a dome. The New Sacristy is a circular structure with a circular dome referencing both classical architecture of the Pantheon and Brunelleschi’s previous domed works.6 Michelangelo designed the tombs of both Lorenzo the Magnificent and Giuliano, Duke of Nemours, with symbolic figures representing both thought and action.5 Under the tombs are statues representing day, night, dawn and dusk, the four states of human life.5 Between statues of Saints Cosma and Damiano is the unfinished Madonna and Child sculpted by Giovannangelo da Montorsoli and Raffaello da Montelupo, two of Michelangelo’s students.5 Construction stopped in 1527 when the Medicis were temporarily expelled from Florence, but began again in 1530. Only two tombs and seven statues were completed when the project ran out of funds in 1534 and Michelangelo went to Rome. 8 The New Sacristy, although unfinished, is the most lavish and extravagant resting places on earth, housing some masterworks of Michelangelo and the most powerful members of the most powerful family ever to control Florence.
[edit] The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence
Without the sponsorship from the Medici’s, The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence would not have been created, rendering the Basilica without a painting of its patron saint. This fresco is one of Agnolo Bronzino's earlier pieces in which he replicates many styles of his master, Pontormo. In fact, The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, illustrating the consecration of the church of San Lorenzo, was actually outlined by Pontormo. His markings include information regarding the shading and other features of the figures. Sponsored by Cosimo de Medici, The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence completes a cycle of frescoes and sculptures in the presbytery area. The front sculptures composing the left and right pulpit represent the Passion and Christ’s Descent into Hell. The walls are frescoed with the Resurrection and The Ascension (symbolically divided by two doorways). The cycle is completed with paintings of Maries at the Tomb and the Martyrdom of St. Lawrence.
In The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence lies the nude figure of the Saint atop a grill surrounded by other nude figures with various tasks. The depiction of the individuals in this painting in the nude places its roots in classical design, a theme of imitation that was rapidly becoming passé. Like Brunelleschi, Bronzino, also a young artist at the time, longed for newer styles of work. Yet, his undying reverence for his deceased teachers was ever-present, and he commemorated the painting as a sort of last will and testament for Pontormo and Allori by including these two figures on the left in an "artistic lineage".9
[edit] Bibliography
1 Jenkins, A F. "Cosimo De' Medici's Patronage of Architecture and the Theory of Magnificence." Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 33 (1970): 162-170. JSTOR. 31 Jan. 2007 <http://links.jstor.org/sici=0075-4390%281970%2933%3C162%3ACDMPOA%3E2.0.C0%3B2-P>.
2 Colonel, G F., and C B. Young. The Medici. New York: The Modern Library, 1930. 38, 748.
3 Saalman, Howard. Filippo Brunelleschi: the Buildings. London: Philip Wilson Ltd., 1993. 107-209.
4 Vasari, Giorgio. Filippo Di Ser Brunelesco: Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists. Fordham. 29 Jan. 2007 <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/vasari/vasari5.htm>.
5 Paoletti, John T. "Donatello's Bronze Doors for the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo." Artibus Et Historiae 11 (1990): 39-68. JSTOR. 31 Jan. 2007.
6 Chiarini, Gloria. "The Medici Chapels." San Lorenzo. Firenze. 30 Jan. 2007 <http://www.sanlorenzo.firenze.it/cgi-bin/news/>.
7 Luchinat, Cristina A. The Medici, Michelangelo, & the Art of Late Renaissance Florence. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 2002. 13-14.
8 Reiss, Sheryl E. "The Ginori Corridor of San Lorenzo and the Building History of the New Sacristy." The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 3rd ser. 52 (1993): 339-343. Jstor. Colorado Springs. 30 Jan. 2007. <http://www.jstor.org/>
9 Bullfinch. "Michelangelo." The Artchive. 30 Jan. 2007 <http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/michelangelo.htmlhttp://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/michelangelo.html>.
10 Brock, Maurice. Bronzino. Trans. David P. Radzinowicz and Christine Schultz-Touge. Paris: Flammarion, 2002. 20-24.
11 "Church of San Lorenzo." Insecula. 31 Jan. 2007 <http://www.insecula.com/us/salle/MS03586.html>.
12 Hibbert, Christopher. The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall. New York: Monrow, 1975. 72-73.
13 Saalman, Howard. "The New Sacristy of San Lorenzo Before Michelangelo." The Art Bulletin (1985): 199-228. JSTOR. Colorado Springs. 30 Jan. 2007.
14 Pilliod, Elizabeth. "Bronzino's Household." The Burlington Magazine, 134 (1992): 92-100. JSTOR. 30 Jan. 2007.
15 Paoletti, John T. and Gary M. Radke. Art in Renassiance Italy: The Medici. San Lorenzo. Firenze. 1 Feb. 2007. http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth213/Medici_patronage.html.
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