Constructed in several phases

Only first phase (1419-1427) constructed

under Brunelleschi

Later phases added the attic story, the

vaulted passageway in the bay to the left

of the loggia

It was a children orphanage

Embodies Brunelleschi’s rational and systematic

principals of design

The simple proportions of the building reflect a

new age, of secular

education and a sense of great order and clarity

The loggia, based on repeated modular elements

Dimensions were not arbitrary. If a horizontal line

is drawn along the tops of the columns, a square is

created out of the height of the column and the

distance from one column to the next

Vocabulary giving ‘antique’ effect, is close to

Tuscan Romanesque

Design

The ground plan of hospital behind, with two

cloisters, church and dormitories, is based on

modular and mathematical proportions. Roughly

centralized, without being symmetrical.

oThere is an emphasis on the horizontal because the

building is longer than it is tall

oThe façade is made up of nine semicircular arches

springing from columns of the Composite order

The semicircular windows brings the building down, earthbound and is a revival of the classical style, no longer a pointed archIn the spandrels of the arches there are glazed blue terracotta roundels with reliefs of babies suggesting the function of the buildingAbove each semicircular arch is a tabernacle window (a rectangular window with a triangular pediment on the top)

Above each column is a ceramic tondo. These

were originally meant by Brunelleschi to be

blank concavities, but ca. 1490, Andrea della

Robbia was commissioned to fill them in

The loggia have sail

vaults supported on

monolithic grey stone

columns and semi

circular arches

The use of composite

order round columns

with classically capitals

in conjunction with a

dosserets (or impost

blocks) was novel. The

give slender look to

building.

Construction begun in 1421

Main body of the church is mostly built after death of

Brunelleschi

The church is part of a larger

monastic complex that contains

other important architectural

works: the Old Sacristy by

Brunelleschi; the Laurentian

Library by Michelangelo; the

New Sacristy based on

Michelangelo's designs; and the

Medici Chapels by Matteo

Nigetti.

Plan is basilican in form

Central arcaded flat-

ceilinged space

Square Sail-vaulted side

aisles and shallow dark side-

chapels(added after 1463)

Sacristy grouped around

the domed crossing and

transepts.

The nave is brightly lit from

clerestory windows and oculi

in the aisles

The attempt to create a proportional

relationship between nave and aisle (aisle bays are

square whereas nave bays are 2X1)

The articulation of the structure in ‘dark

stone’(grey stone column against white plaster

walls).

The use of an integrated system of column,

arches, entablatures.

A clear relationship between column and pilaster

The use of proper proportions for the height of

the columns

The use of spherical segments in the vaults of

the side aisles.

NOTABLE FEATURES

Old Sacristy or Sagrestia VecchiaoOpening off the north transept is the square, domed space

oDesigned by Brunelleschi

oIt contains the tombs of several members of the Medici

familyoComposed of a cube, with a

hemispherical umbrella dome

composed of twelve vaults

supported on pendentives,

and a smaller domed altar

chapel with concave niches;

the cube acting as the human

world and the sphere the

heavens

oA rhythmic system of pilasters,

arches that emphasize the space’s

geometric unity

oThe pilasters support an

entablature, the only purpose of

which is to divide the space into

two equal horizontal zones

oThe use of colour is restricted

to grey for the stone and white

for the wall. The correct use of

the Corinthian order for the

capitals was also new

New Sacristy or Sagrestia Nuova

oOpposite it in the south transept

oDesigned by Michelangelo

oIt composed of three registers, the topmost topped by a

coffered pendantive dome

oThe combination of grey

stone and white plaster on

the lower register is

carried through to the

second facade

oIn plan, it mirrors

Brunelleschi’s Old Sacristy

opposite

oIn strong contrast to dark stone are bizarre tomb

monuments in the centre of side walls, made of highly

polished white Carrara marble

oIn the corner bay are marble doors with slab-like cornices

doubling as the cills for oversize niches above

oTheir recesses capriciously

breaking upwards and

outwards into their crowning

segmental pediments.

oBeneath the coffered

dome, the Sacristy is

illuminated by four extra

windows with exaggeratedly

tapering frames

References-1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Lorenzo,_Florence

2. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/florence-san-lorenzo

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_Chapel

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrestia_Vecchia

5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ospedale_degli_Innocenti

6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundling_Hospital

Books-A History Of Architecture, by Sir Banister Fletcher