Address: Borgognissanti, 42
The large refectory of
Ognissanti is situated between the first and the second
cloister of the antique convent. In the room, facing there is a
magnificent door, in pietra serena, and on either side two basins
of 1480. In the niches there are two frescoes referring to the
water: Sara at Jacob's pit and Moses who makes water gush from
the rock; works by Giuseppe Romei of the seventeeth century.
The
central fresco, which entirely covers the wall measures 8.10 x 4;
it is the work of Domenico del Ghirlandaio (1449-1494). He
reached one of the best results of his art in the fresco of
Ognissanti.
The representation of the
Last
Supper is calm, but not without drama. The apostles are
painted in the moment Jesus announces that one of them will
betray him. According to a report by the purchasers (at that
time, the refectory belonged to Humiliati Monks), Ghirlandaio has
picked out many apparently decorative details, but which, in
reality, express a precise symbolic reference to the drama of the
Passion and the Redemption of Christ: from the evergreen plants
to the flight of the quails, from the oranges to the cherries,
from the dove to the pea-cock. As it is a separate fresco it is
possible to compare it with the sinopite on the left wall,
between the pulpit which was used for the Bible reading during
dinner and supper.
