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Buildings

S. Francesco al Monte

The church now known as San Salvatore al Monte is situated below the basilica of San Miniato on the so called monte delle Croci, just behind today's piazzale Michelangelo. The current church is the third church to stand on the site. The first was a small oratory dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian, which was given by Luca di Jacopo della Tosa to a group of Franciscans from Fiesole in 1417. A convent was ready for the community quickly with residents documented in 1419, but they outgrew it by mid-century. After being turned down to clad the facade of Santa Croce, Castello Quaratesi offered to rebuild the entire complex at San Francesco, and negotiations began in 1449. His testament of April 25, 1465 left the Calimala Guild in charge of seeing the new church completed, but it was not until around 1490 that works began. Scholars hypothesize that it was a simple hall church with altars against the walls. Structural problems necessitated a renovation in 1499 under the guidance of a group of experts that included Giuliano da Sangallo, Leonardo da Vinci, and il Cronaca, who provided designs for the church as it appears today. The building incorporated spaces already present and added a unifying arcade that frames side chapels, each adorned in their vaults with donor family coats of arms and containing tombs. Tombs also fill the floor of the sanctuary. Stefano Rosselli referred to the church as San Francesco al Monte, which is the name used here.

Affiliations (1 total)
  • Franciscans (OFM)
Database ID 37

Alternate Names

  • S. Francesco al Monte alle Croci
  • S. Francesco al Monte a S. Miniato fuor di Firenze
  • S. Salvatore
  • S. Salvatore al Monte

Dates

1417
 foundation
after 1417 through 1442
 construction
1490s to 1504
 renovation
April 21st, 1504
1810

Affiliated Groups (4 total)

della Tosa
1417 a
francescani di S. Francesco al Monte
circa 1417 (date is approximate) to 1665 b
Quaratesi
1449 to 1465 c
Arte dei Calimala
1465 to 1504 d

Spaces (9 total)

Memorials (75 total)

Memorialized Groups (48)

47 Families (click to expand)

Memorialized Individuals (27)

Sources (3 total)

Catalogo generale dei Beni Culturali rec. 0900281817-0
ASF, Manoscritti, 628, Sepoltuari da Francesco della Foresta pp. 863-882
ASF, Manoscritti, 624, Rosselli, Sepoltuario Fiorentino, 1657 (copy) pp. 235-246 and 268

Notes

  • [a] Luca di Jacopo del Toso (or della Tosa) gave property from a villa with a garden and chapel dedicated to SS. Cosmas and Damian. Construction progressed quickly, and friars were in residence by 1419.
  • [b] The convent suffered serious damage in and after siege of 1529. The friars left in 1665 for Ognissanti.
  • [c] After being rebuffed by the Franciscans at Santa Croce for his offer to build a marble facade on their church, Castello Quaratesi turned his attention to the Observant community on the hillside above his neighborhood. His desires clashed with the Franciscan vow of poverty, and work did not progress before his death. Castello's former guild was left in charge and after a structurally unsound building was finished in1498, it was renovated significantly starting the next year and consecrated in 1504.
  • [d] The Calimala Guild executed the last wishes of their former member Castello Quaratesi, seeing the church through to its completion.