Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sagrestia Vecchia
Left of the altar, opening off the north transept, lies the Old Sacristy, an important part of
Brunelleschi's design. Decorated predominantly by Donatello, it features his painted
Tondo
and sculpted doors portraying martyrs and the apostles. Inside the domed space,
designed as a cube (representing earth) topped by a sphere (symbolising heaven), lie sev-
eral Medici tombs.
Donatello
Donatello, who sculpted the church's two bronze pulpits (1460-67) adorned with panels
of the Crucifixion, is buried in the north-transept Chapel of the High Altar (also here is
Fra' Filippo Lippi's c 1450
Annunciation
). By Donatello's side rests Cosimo the Elder,
the Medici who greatly admired and paid for much of the artist's work.
Mannerist Art
Two outstanding pieces of Mannerist art stand out: Rosso Fiorentino's
Sposalizio della
Vergine
(Marriage of the Virgin Mary; 1523), with its handsome young Joseph; and
Bronzino's gruesomely vivid fresco of the martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, the church's
namesake.
Top Tips
›
Pretty cloisters framing a garden shaded with orange trees lie beyond the basilica ticket office - allow time to
linger here in peace (and shade).
›
Visit the basilica on a weekday morning when the Biblioteca Laurenziana Medicea (
Click here
) and Cappelle
Medicee (
Click here
)
are open (the Cappelle Medicee are closed some Mondays).
›
Watch your pockets in the crowds that cram the San Lorenzo street market on the square in front of the ba-
silica.
Take a Break
›
Push your way past market stalls to Trattoria Mario (
Click here
)
for a lunch to remember; arrive at noon or
even earlier to snag a table.
