Address: Museo dell'Opera di Santa Croce, Piazza Santa Croce
In the picturesque cloister to the side of the
Church of Santa Croce one finds one of
the greatest works by
Filippo Brunelleschi: the
Pazzi Chapel.
It dates from just three years before the death of the architect (1443). The plan of the chapel is again the circle and
the square. A rectangular base is covered with a conical central dome supported by fine "veiled" vaulting that one also
finds in the porch. The spaces are divided up with a geometric lucidity; the white intonaco (plaster) of the walls is in
the cool contrast to the pilasters in grey "serene" stone, and the beautiful decorations in glazed terracotta which adorn
the interior are by Luca della Robbia. In the same courtyard there is the long refecotry housing the dramatic CRUCIFIX by
Cimabue. Dating from c. 1270 this was the work of art most damaged in the flood of 1966. Ten years time was necessary for
the restoration of the panel painting. After lying immersed in the mud for an entire day, it seemed irredeemably lost.
