In the Via dei Servi, leading from Brunelleschi’s Duomo to the more
modest but equally impressive Piazza Santissima Annunziata, appears the
monumental edifice that once belonged to the prosperous Niccolini family. Palazzo
Niccolini housed the sumptuous art collection of one of the family’s foremost
art patrons: Giovanni Niccolini (1544-1611). He was the son of Agnolo Niccolini
(1502-1567), a successful ambassador of Cosimo I de’ Medici. In the last years
of his life, Agnolo even reached the status of cardinal. Giovanni followed in his
father’s footsteps as loyal servant of the Medici court. In 1570, Niccolini
became part of grand duke Cosimo’s entourage when the latter received the Grand
Ducal crown and from 1578 until 1610, Giovanni resided in Rome as Florentine
ambassador to the Papal court. His Roman sojourn influenced Niccolini’s art
patronage, since he acquired many antiquities to adorn his Florentine palace. Over
time, this splendorous collection became dispersed and it is now lost without
any trace. Fortunately, the Cappella Niccolini remains intact and gives an idea
of Niccolini’s rich art patronage. Giovanantonio Dosio (1533-1610) designed the
family chapel in the Franciscan church of Santa Croce and decorated the walls
with many coloured marble slabs of archaeological provenance, acquired on the
Roman art market.
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| Cappella Niccolini, Santa Croce, Florence (source: Wikipedia) |
As expected, I wanted to visit this sanctuary to gain a first-hand
experience of Niccolini art. But there was a small problem: the chapel was only
accessible for prayer during mass. I made an attempt to contact the Santa Croce
by phone and e-mail in order to visit this rare Niccolini remnant. The Santa
Croce referred to their webpage and did not reply to my message, so I switched
to plan B: attend the Holy Mass. On a beautiful Sunday morning, fellow NIKI-intern
Mélanie accompanied me to the Franciscan church. Since Mélanie was raised a
Catholic, I needed her to provide me with some subtitles how to act to not look
like a tourist too cheap to pay an entrance fee and decided to attend mass
instead.
Everything went well: I
took the right entrance, read the mass leaflet, tried to understand the priest’s
wise words and I donated some money while keeping an eye at the sumptuous
marble portal of Cappella Niccolini at
my left. Mass was over, so time to claim my price after an hour of concentrated
waiting. But the chapel was closed! In the blink of an eye there were wooden
barriers keeping us from entering. Now what? Though I was still in a moment of
surprise, Mélanie acted fast and walked right up to the altar. When a guard arrived,
she asked him politely if there wasn’t a possibility to take a look. After a
messy conversion in French, English and Italian, his answer was “no”. But after
we mentioned we studied Art History, the guard started talking about the
artists involved in the chapel’s construction and how he himself was an art
historian. It seems this common interest made him understand the merit of
seeing artworks in real life. So, this friendly Italian guard complied with a
short five-minute visit.
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| Interior of the Cappella Niccolini, Santa Croce, Florence (source: http://www.santacroceopera.it) |
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| Cupola of the Cappella Niccolini, Santa Croce, Florence (source: http://www.santacroceopera.it) |
After some moments of
silent and solitary art historical prayers in Cappella Niccolini, it was time
to leave. To contemplate about the Niccolini meraviglie, we had a coffee and a dolce at Ospedale degli
Innocenti’s sunny and tranquil terrace with a view at the Duomo. This
experience shows how sometimes, all we need is a friendly help and the magic
password “art historian,” to (literally) open gates to concealed artistic gems.
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See also the stories of PPP-interns Charley and Sinja!
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See also the stories of PPP-interns Charley and Sinja!
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