Pazzi Chapel - History

History

Though funds for the chapel were assembled in 1429 by Andrea Pazzi, head of the Pazzi family, whose wealth was second only to the Medici, construction did not begin until about 1441. The chapel was completed in the 1460s, almost two decades after the death of the architect, Filippo Brunelleschi, himself.

The main purpose of the building was as the cathedral chapter house (meeting room for the governing chapter) and use as a classroom for the teaching of monks and other religious purposes. But there was a chapel behind the altar where the commissioning family had the right to bury its dead. However, a suspected ulterior motive was for the Pazzi family to make a mark on the city of Florence Italy,to show their wealth and power in Renaissance era Italy. The fact that the city was at war with a neighboring city at the time and still acquired the funds to build this chapel showed the importance it had to the Pazzi family and the people of Florence.

Formerly considered a work of Filippo Brunelleschi, it is now thought that he was responsible for the plan, which is based on simple geometrical forms, the square and the circle, but not for the building's execution and detailing. A façade that he had begun, and of which only the lower register can be seen, was partially obscured by the addition of a porch. The main inspiration for this piece was the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria Novella in Florence Italy.

The size of the chapel was predetermined by existing walls, creating an unusual situation, however, where the space was not square as in the Old Sacristy, which was the model for this building, but rectangular and transept-like and thus in contradistinction to the square, axially-placed altar. Despite this, and its complex history, the building gives us insight into the ambitions of Renaissance architects in their struggle to bring coherence to the architectural language of columns, pilasters, arches and vaults. Between the pilasters in the transept there are tall, blank, round headed panels and, above them, roundels, common Renaissance decorative motifs. The architectural elements of the interior are all in pietra serena (English: "serene stone"). The building also used bearing masonry in its construction, which is mason units or concrete blocks with lime and man made adhesives to stick them together.

As to the architect, scholars argue that it could have been either the work of Giuliano da Maiano or Michelozzo.

The rondi of the seated Apostles are by Luca della Robbia, who also did the terracotta decorations in the cupola of the porch. It has been suggested that the roundels of the Evangelists may have been the work of Donatello.