The Art Gallery
Tourist informations
Entrance from: Piazza Santa Felicita.
Opening hours: Holydays: 9AM-1PM; Working days: 9-12AM; 3-6PM.
Admission ticket: Free.
Opening hours: Holydays: 9AM-1PM; Working days: 9-12AM; 3-6PM.
Admission ticket: Free.
Santa Felicita is the oldest church of Oltrarno: it is famous for the masterpiece of Mannerist painting exposed in its interior, the Deposition by Pontormo.
History
In 4th Century a church was built on this place by the Christian community of Florence, which inhabitated on this side of the river, opposite to the Roman city; this early-christian building was subsequently modified and enlarged (in 11th Century, and then in 14th Century, when a tower located by the church was transformed in bell-tower), so that today only few fragments of the originary structure are still recognizable.
Click to enlarge pictures.
Santa Felicita is characterized by the Vasari Corridor (built in 1565) running across its façade and by the overall decoration by Federico Ruggeri completed in the years 1736-1739.
The restoration of 1936 brought to light some rests of the original face of the Barbadori Chapel, built by Brunelleschi for the Capponi family.
In the spotlight
Exterior: above the portico the façade is partly hidden by the Vasari Corridor, which joins Palazzo Vecchio and Pitti Palace and was built 1565 by Giorgio Vasari; under the portico we find some tombs (15th to 16th Century): among them, the one of Barduccio Chiericini (a merchant died in 1416) and the one of Cardinal Luigi dei Rossi (made in 1500 by Raffaello da Montelupo).
Interior: in the first chapel on the right (the Barbadori chapel, built in 1425 by Brunelleschi) are exposed two paintings by Pontormo: the famous Deposition (1528, on the altar) and the Annunciation (on the right of the altar). The Sacrysty (1470) was built by Michelozzo (or perhaps by Leon Battista Alberti) following the typical Brunelleschi's style. Among the paintings in the Sacrysty are to be mentioned the polyptychon with Madonna with the Child and Saints, by Taddeo Gaddi, and the Adoration of the Magi, by Francesco di Antonio (1450).
