We have an example of this in the
Baptistery of Florence which, initially built with an octagonal plan, was then equipped with a rectangular construction attached to the original building. Another medieval scarsella is that of the Cappellone degli Spagnoli in Santa Maria Novella, also in
Florence, which served as a model for
Filippo Brunelleschi to design the plans of the Sagrestia Vecchia of San Lorenzo and of the
Pazzi Chapel. Brunelleschi studied a model of the chapel in which the base was square and the scarsella opened in the center of one of the walls, with the side dimension equal to a third of the chapel and with an area equal, therefore, to a one ninth of the entire chapel area. This scheme proved to be successful and was actively used by the great architects of the Renaissance, especially for centrally-planned buildings. An early example of a monumental scale is the
Basilica of Santa Maria delle Carceri in Prato designed by
Giuliano da Sangallo in which the presbyteral area composes a sort of large scarsella. Another example of a scarsella is the apse of the
church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in
Venice. ==See also==