Santa Maria Novella

 Annamaria on Monday

According to UNESCO's worldwide analysis, sixty percent of the Patrimony of Humanity is in Italy, and sixty percent of the treasures that are in Italy are in Tuscany.  For me this means that no matter how many visits I make to masterpieces of art and architecture, there is always more to enjoy. And revisiting places I have not seen in a while can be as much an eyeopener as happening upon something I didn't even know existed.  This week that meant going to see the church of Santa Maria Novella, which I had not seen in at least a couple of decades.  It was far more wonderful than I remembered it.  I want to share it with you today.

Visitors enter from the side door

The main attraction for art lovers: Ghirlandaio's frescoes:

The zoom on the camera allows for seeing the panels in closeup.

I love it that the tabernacle on the main altar is a miniature of the dome of the Duomo. 

I understand from a friend here that a lot of people don't go out to see the cloister.  I am glad I did, if only to see the architecture and the trees.

But then I found the Spanish Chapel, so called because, even during the Renaissance, it was a favorite of noble Spanish visitors.  I understood why.  The frescoes are a knock out.

What you have here is just a taste of what there is to see in just one of Florence’s many many splendors.