Althea Rooms
Centro Machiavelli
Filippini e Paoletti
La Scartoffia
Ristorante Ricchi
Tourist informations
Entrance from: Piazza Santo Spirito 29.
Opening hours: Holydays: 8AM-1PM; Working days: 9AM-2PM. Closed on Monday.
Admission ticket: Euro 2,20.
Opening hours: Holydays: 8AM-1PM; Working days: 9AM-2PM. Closed on Monday.
Admission ticket: Euro 2,20.
The Refectory of Santo Spirito, once belonging to the monastery, is located at the side of the church and contains a small yet interesting Museum with several artworks.
History
The Refectory is the oldest building of the monastery of Santo Spirito and dates back to the second halfth of 14th Century. The rectangular room has truss and two gothic-style windows on each of the long sides.
The frescoes (14th Century) decorating the room were severely damaged at the end of the 19th Century, when the Refectory was used as a garage; many details of the paintings could not be recovered during restorations in 1941 and are lost.
In 1946 the antiquarian Salvatore Romano donated to the City of Florence his own collection of works of art: they found their place in the Refectory of Santo Spirito, where in the late 1940s a museum has been established.
In the spotlight
In the interior of the Refectory we can still see portions of a vast fresco ascribed to Andrea Orcagna (1360) and depicting the Crucifixion, the Last Supper (almost completely lost) and two Saints.
In the room are collected several Sculptures: among them are ancient Roman figures, and sculptures by Tino da Camaino (Adorating Angel), from the school of Jacopo della Quercia, and two Bas-Reliefs by Donatello, once belonging to the Cathedral of Saint Antony in Padua. In the refectory are also displayed Frescoes and Furnitures from the 16th and 17th Centuries.
