Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi

Catarina dei Pazzi was the daughter of one of the influential families in Florence. The Pazzi-family was often in fight with the Medici-Family. With Catarina they could have a saint in the family and even a church dedicated to her. The beginning was the Cappella dei Pazzi in Santa Croce, but it was not comparable to San Lorenzo, the Medici-Family church.

A medieval women’s house

In medieval times, a woman had just a few choices for her future life: to marry a man who cares about her and the family, to have the life of a courtesan or a nun. Those of them, who quit the life as courtesan might have found a refuge in so called institutions for fallen women, later also known as Magdalen Asylum, what explains the first name of the church: Santa Maria Maddalena la Penitente. Mary Magdalene was in the Bible the penitent woman who washed the feet of Jesus.

The Florentine bishop had some difficulties with such self-governing women house in the form of a convent in Borgo Pinti, which was sponsored by a rich Florentine. It was simply too central. A male monastery would fit better. In 1442 a serious male order has been found. The Cistercians took over the church and renamed it into Santa Maria Maddalena di Cestello. The fallen women had from then on the chance to access to the church twice a year via the Lily chapel.

New times in the spotlight

Even the monks of a traditional and conservative order like the Cistercians understood that it was time for innovation to remain attractive for Florentines donations. Therefore, they asked Giuliano da Sangallo to bring light into their church and to help them in monetizing the building. The hall church had to be widened left and right and 2 rows of chapels were built, each consisting of six chapels. Rich Florentines could eternalize their memory and monks had a source for income, for what their image as member of a trustworthy helped.

Sangallo’s modern architectural concept helped to eliminate the gothic narrowness and darkness. Breaking the rules meant at that time to break walls and to create space for the chapels assuring income for the convent. The concept of an open church was later largely adopted in other cases. It helped to suggest the idea of changes which the reformation asked for.

Renaissance as coincidence of opposites

But the main constructive innovation of the convent was the colonnade around the yard. It looks like from Antique times because of the right architraves supported by columns with capitals. Sangallo kept two semi round arches, one at the entrance to and another one at the exit from the yard. They are higher and very majestic and their semi-round arches are supported by rectangular columns. The rectangular architraves repose on cylindric columns. Sangallo has been inspired by Roman buildings seen in Rome during his stay there. He copied the Roman original, more explicitly than other architects in Florence at that time and avoided to add what would be closer to the prevailing taste of its time. The traditional behaviour of the Cistercians and the puristic approach of the great architect fitted very well to each other. Sangallo took inspiration from Santissima Annunziata which is close to Borgo Pinti and where an important project of Leon Battista Alberti, the tribune, surrounded by chapels, was under construction.

The multiplication of an ionic capital

Sangallo was inspired by antique temples and open for suggestions.

The legend tells that a bishop of Fiesole found an Antique Roman capital during excavation work. Obviously, it was a piece from pagan times and therefore it should have been used for the building of new, more christian houses. But the beauty of this piece of stone enchanted the bishop so he took it with him to Florence where he lived in the via San Gallo in front of Sant’Agata. Somehow, he heard about the famous architect and his love for Antique art. He showed it to him and Sangallo was impressed, because finally it was found the missing piece, the keystone for his colonnade. The unique ionic roman capital in yellow marble would fit so well into his idea of a Roman colonnade. It was perfect for the concept of right architraves inspired by antique temples. Roman beauty was geometric. For modern times marble was too expansive. Therefore, the capital was multiplied and made in grey sandstone: another example of Florence’s beauty industry. 

The forced transferral

Later the church has been renamed again. Since 1628 it was called Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi, because another order replaced the cistercians. Male Cistercians were really unhappy about this and their protest was loud. But the chance to win with their reclamation was very little. The nuns of the Carmelite order at San Frediano living in deplorable conditions had simply a better relationship to the Barberini-Pope Urban VIII and that via the Florentine cardinal Francesco Barberini, a clear family connection, who wanted to do a favor to his two nieces living with the Carmelites at San Frediano, but maybe also to the Pazzi who had suffered so much. On the other side, the Carmelites had a trump card in their hands, a dead body of a carmelite nun, Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi, which even one year after the dead in 1607 was still intact. Not long time after the process for her canonization started, which finally happened in 1669. But before, the carmelites of San Frediano promised to bring the mortal remains of Maria Maddalena, known also as Catarina de‘ Pazzi, with them to Borgo Pinti. An advantage and really image building in the counter-reformation was to have a Saint person within the inner city. Around the casket containing the Saint’s body a glorifying choir chapel has been built in Santa Maria Maddalena Dei Pazzi. Only marble and semiprecious stones were used to rebuilt the choir chapel and to honor the saint. Later, in 1928 her body has been transferred to the villa il Pino in via dei Massoni outside Florence.