Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence

Brief Information

San Lorenzo has a contrast rare for a major Florentine church: inside, Brunelleschi created a clear 15th-century space, while the main facade was never clad. As a result, the building immediately shows not only the design intent, but also the unfinishedness that became part of its appearance.

The first church on this site was founded in 393; it was later rebuilt, and in the 15th century the Medici commissioned a new reconstruction. San Lorenzo is therefore read not as a single completed monument, but as the Medici family church, where architecture, tombs, and individual works of art are gathered around one long-standing bond between the family and the church.

What to Notice First

It is worth comparing the exterior facade and the interior arrangement. Outside, the unclad surface itself is important: a design for the ceremonial facade existed, Michelangelo made a wooden model, but the work stopped because of technical and financial problems. Inside, the principle is different: three naves are assembled from square bays, and Corinthian columns carry semicircular arches through short impost blocks. These blocks increase the height and connect the parts of the space.

The dark pietra serena stone against the background of whitewashed plaster helps make the structure legible: pilasters, archivolts, door frames, and other load-bearing elements do not disappear into the walls. Before the crossing, one can single out Donatello’s two symmetrical bronze pulpits on dark marble columns; their form recalls ancient sarcophagi because they were originally associated with a funerary concept. In the Chapel of the Princes, the same family motif becomes almost material: the octagonal hall is covered with dark variegated marble, semiprecious stones, mother-of-pearl, lapis lazuli, and coral.