The vast interior is based on a basilica plan, designed as a T-shaped Egyptian cross and is divided into a nave, two aisles set with windows and a short transept. The large nave is 100 metres long and gives an impression of austerity. The piers are of compound form and have Corinthian columns supporting pointed Gothic arches above which is a clerestory of ocular windows above which rises a ribbed, pointed quadrupartite vault. The ribs and arches are all black and white polychrome. There is a ''
trompe-l'œil'' effect by which towards the
apse the nave seems longer than its actual length because the piers between the nave and the aisles are progressively closer, nearer to the chancel. Many of the windows have stained glass dating from the 14th and 15th century, such as 15th century
Madonna and Child and St. John and St. Philip (designed by
Filippino Lippi), both in the
Strozzi Chapel. Some stained glass windows have been damaged in the course of centuries and have been replaced. The one at the west end, a depiction of the
Coronation of Mary, dates from the 14th century, and is based on a design of
Andrea di Bonaiuto da Firenze. The pulpit, commissioned by the Rucellai family in 1443, was designed by
Filippo Brunelleschi and executed by his adopted son
Andrea Cavalcanti. This pulpit has a particular historical significance, since it was the pulpit from which Father
Tommaso Caccini denounced
Galileo Galilei's defense of
Copernican heliocentrism. '' by
Masaccio The Holy Trinity, situated almost halfway along the left aisle, is a pioneering early Renaissance work of
Masaccio, showing his new ideas about perspective and mathematical proportions. Its meaning for the art of painting can easily be compared to the importance of
Brunelleschi for architecture and
Donatello for sculpture. The patrons were the judge and his wife, members of the Lenzi family, here depicted kneeling. The
cadaver tomb below carries in Italian the
epigram: "I was once what you are, and what I am you will become". Of particular note in the right aisle is the
Tomba della Beata Villana, a monument by
Bernardo Rossellino executed in 1451. In the same aisle, are located tombs of
bishops of Fiesole, one by
Tino di Camaino and another by
Nino Pisano.
Tornabuoni Chapel The chancel (or the
Cappella Tornabuoni) contains series of famous
frescoes painted from 1485 to 1490 by
Domenico Ghirlandaio whose apprentice was the young
Michelangelo. The frescoes represent themes from the lives of the Virgin and John the Baptist. They contain portrayals of several members of important Florentine families. The vaults have roundels with paintings of the Evangelists. On the rear wall are the paintings
Saint Dominic Burns the Heretical Books and ''Saint Peter's Martyrdom
, the Annunciation
, and Saint John Goes into the Desert''. The stained-glass windows were made in 1492 by the Florentine artist
Alessandro Agolanti, known also as Il Bidello, and were based on cartoons by Ghirlandaio. The bronze crucifix on the main altar is by
Giambologna (16th century).
Filippo Strozzi Chapel The Filippo Strozzi Chapel is situated on the right side of the main altar. The series of
frescoes by Filippino Lippi depict the lives of
Apostle Philip and the Apostle
Saint James the Great and were completed in 1502. On the right wall is the fresco
St Philip Driving the Dragon from the Temple of Hieropolis and in the lunette above it, the
Crucifixion of St Philip. On the left wall is the fresco
St John the Evangelist Resuscitating Druisana and in the lunette above it
The Torture of St John the Evangelist. Adam, Noah, Abraham and Jacob are represented on the
ribbed vault. Behind the altar is the tomb of Strozzi with a sculpture by
Benedetto da Maiano (1491).
Gondi Chapel This chapel is situated on the left side of the main altar and dates back to the end of the 13th century, when on the day of Saint Luke, on 18. October 1279, the groundbreaking for the church took place. The vault contains fragments of frescoes by 13th-century Greek painters. Today's Renaissance appearance in white and black marble, and red
porphyry revetment was applied by
Giuliano da Sangallo around 1503, when the patronage for the chapel went to the Gondi family. Here, on the rear wall in the niche above the altar the famous
Crucifix by
Brunelleschi was installed, though not its original location. The polychromed wooden statue executed ca. 1410–15 is one of very few sculptures by the artist most famous for the
cathedral's cupola and the
foundling hospital. The legend goes that he was so disgusted by the "primitive"
Crucifix by his young friend
Donatello in the Florence's
church of Santa Croce who challenged him to cut a better one. The stained-glass window are modern works of the 20th century.
Cappella Strozzi di Mantova The
Cappella Strozzi di Mantova is situated at the end of the left transept. The frescoes were commissioned from
Nardo di Cione (1350–1357) by
Tommaso Strozzi, an ancestor of
Filippo Strozzi. The frescoes are inspired by
Dante's
Divine Comedy: Last Judgment (on the back wall; including a portrait of Dante), Hell (on the right wall) and paradise (on the left wall). The main altarpiece of
The Redeemer with the Madonna and Saints was done by
Nardo di Cione's brother, Andrea di Cione, better known as
Orcagna. The large stained-glass window on the back was made from a cartoon by the two brothers.
Della Pura Chapel The Della Pura Chapel is situated north of the old cemetery. It dates from 1474 and was constructed with Renaissance columns. It was restored in 1841 by
Gaetano Baccani. On the left side there is a
lunette with a 14th-century fresco
Madonna and Child with St Catherine. On the front altar there is a wooden crucifix by
Baccio da Montelupo (1501).
Rucellai Chapel The
Rucellai Chapel, at the end of the right aisle, dates from the 14th century. Besides the tomb of Paolo Rucellai (15th century) and the marble statue of the
Madonna and the Child by Nino Pisano, it houses several art treasures such as remains of frescoes by the
Maestro di Santa Cecilia (end 13th – beginning 14th century). The panel on the left wall,
the Martyrdom of St Catherine, was painted by
Giuliano Bugiardini (possibly with assistance from Michelangelo). The bronze tomb, in the centre of the floor, was made by
Lorenzo Ghiberti in 1425.
Bardi Chapel The Bardi Chapel, the second chapel on the right of the apse, was founded by
Riccardo Bardi and dates from early 14th century. The high-relief on a pillar on the right depicts
St Gregory blessing Riccardo Bardi. The walls show us some early 14th-century frescoes attributed to
Spinello Aretino. The
Madonna del Rosario on the altar is by
Giorgio Vasari (1568) in the former sacristy by
Giovanni della Robbia (1498–99)
Sacristy The sacristy, at the end of the left aisle, was built as the Chapel of the Annunciation by the Cavalcanti family in 1380. It houses, after a recent period of fourteen years of cleaning and renovation, the enormous painted
Crucifix with the Madonna and John the Evangelist, an early work by
Giotto. The sacristy is also embellished by a
glazed terracotta and marble font, a masterpiece by
Giovanni della Robbia (1498). The cupboards were designed by
Bernardo Buontalenti in 1593. The paintings on the wall are ascribed to Vasari and other contemporary Florentine painters. The large Gothic window with three
mullions at the back wall dates from 1386 and was based on cartoons by
Niccolò di Pietro Gerini. in the Spanish Chapel:
Allegory of the Active and Triumphant Church and of the Dominican order (c. 1365)
Spanish Chapel The Spanish Chapel (or
Cappellone degli Spagnoli) is the former
chapter house of the convent. It is situated at the north side of the green Cloister (
chiostro verde). It was commissioned by Buonamico (Mico) Guidalotti as a chapter house for the
Dominican Order. Construction started c. 1343 and was finished in 1355. The Guidalotti chapel was later called "Spanish Chapel", because
Cosimo I assigned it to
Eleonora of Toledo and her Spanish retinue. Within the Spanish Chapel there is a smaller Chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament. The Spanish Chapel was decorated from 1365 to 1367 by
Andrea di Bonaiuto, also known as Andrea da Firenze. As the chapel was built for the Dominicans, depictions of Saint Dominic are found in most of the frescos. The large fresco on the right wall depicts an
Allegory of the Active and Triumphant Church and of the Dominican order. It is especially interesting because in the background it shows a large pink building that some think may provide some insight into the original designs for
Florence Cathedral by
Arnolfo di Cambio (before Brunelleschi's dome was built). However, such an interpretation is fantasy since the Duomo was never intended to be pink, nor to have the
bell tower at the rear. This fresco also contains portraits of pope
Benedict IX, cardinal Friar
Niccolò Albertini, count Guido di Poppi,
Arnolfo di Cambio and the poet
Petrarch. The frescoes on the other walls represent scenes from the lives of Christ and St Peter on the entry wall (mostly ruined due to the later installation of a choir),
The Triumph of St Thomas Aquinas and the
Allegory of Christian Learning on the left wall, and the large
Crucifixion with the Way to Calvary and the Descent into Limbo on the archway of the altar wall. The four-part vault contains scenes of Christ walking on water (the ), his Resurrection, the Ascension, and Pentecost. The five-panelled Gothic
polyptych that was probably originally made for the chapel's altar, depicting the
Madonna Enthroned with Child and Four Saints by
Bernardo Daddi dates from 1344 and is currently on display in a small museum area reached ed through glass doors from the far end of the cloister. Together, the complex iconography of the ceiling vault, walls, and altar combine to communicate the message of Dominicans as guides to salvation. Rectangular in shape, towards the west it has a
scarsella containing the altar and a marble crucifix by Domenico Pieratti from the early seventeenth century, donated in 1731 by
Gian Gastone de' Medici. '', is a 7x2-meter oil painting on canvas in the basilica. The Spanish Chapel also contains the
Last Supper, the only remaining example of the signed works of
Plautilla Nelli, a Dominican nun. File:Paolo Uccello — Flood and Waters Subsiding.jpg|Paolo Uccello — Flood and Waters Subsiding, Sacrifice and Drunkenness File:Paolo Uccello — Creation and the Fall.jpg|Paolo Uccello — Creation and the Fall File:Paolo Uccello — Announcement of the Flood and the Building of the Ark.jpg|Paolo Uccello — Lamech killing his Father, Announcement of the Flood and the Building of the Ark File:Paolo Uccello and his circle — Adam and Eve, Expulsion from Heaven, story of Cain and Abel.jpg|Paolo Uccello and his circle — Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel
Chariot Race in the Piazza The square in front the church was used by Cosimo I for the yearly chariot race (
Palio dei Cocchi). This custom existed between 1563 and late in the 19th century. The two
Obelisks of the Corsa dei Cocchi marked the start and the finish of the race. They were set up to imitate a Roman
Circus Maximus. The obelisks rest on bronze tortoises, made in 1608 by the sculptor
Giambologna.
Astronomical instruments ==List of artworks==