Memorials

S. Croce church 104.1a tomb of Francesco d'Antonio Benvenuti a

Situated In

friary of S. Croce -- chiesa -- right aisle

Alternate Names

Nobili family tomb

Rosselli Number	104.0
Memorial Type
Status	lost
Current Repository	na
Primary Installation	floor
Secondary Installation	with wall component(s)
Tomb Form	rectangular
Liturgical Orientation	S
Documented Types	lapida monumento lastrone sepoltura
Component Parts	slab
Decorative Elements	b c
Material	marble
Database ID	11322

Dates

mid fourteenth century

Inscriptions (1 total)

2452

Francisci Antonii Chiari de Benvenutis

The tomb of Francesco d'Antonio di Chiaro from the Benvenuti family

Individuals (5 total)

Benvenuti, Francesco di Antonio di Chiaro di Benvenuto	circa 1350s (date is approximate) to 1760
Benvenuti, Francesco di Bartolino di Chiaro di Benvenuto (Bartolini)	February 24th, 1367	d
Nobili, Zanobi di Bartolomeo di Francesco di Bartolino di Chiaro	between May 1st and August 28th, 1408 e
Nobili, Lionardo di Antonio di Francesco di Bartolino di Chiaro	July 1st, 1411, September 11th, 1417 or a day in between f
Nobili, Ruberto di Antonio di Francesco di Bartolino di Chiaro (detto Uberto)	between June 30th, 1411 and September 11th, 1417 g

Groups (2 total)

Benvenuti		circa 1367 (date is approximate) to 1760
Nobili		1379 to 1760	h

Related Memorials (2 total)

S. Croce church 104.1b holy water font of Francesco di Bartolino di Chiaro de Benvenuti:
S. Croce church 104.2 tomb of Nobili family:	1760

Sources (8 total)

C. Cheli, Le lapidi terragne di Santa Croce III, 1500-1931	pp. 694-695, no. 214
ASF, Manoscritti, 618, Sep. S. Croce 1596 (copy)	fol. 51v, no. 108 and fol. 75-75v
ASF, Manoscritti, 619, Sep. S. Croce 1439	fol. 16, no. 49
ASF, Manoscritti, 624, Rosselli, Sepoltuario Fiorentino, 1657 (copy)	pp. 304, no. 104
ASF, Manoscritti, 628, Sepoltuari da Francesco della Foresta	pp. 585, no. 59
Bib. Mor., Moreni, 320, Baldovinetti copy of Rosselli sepoltuario	fol. 205v (p. 246 o.s.)
S. Rosselli, Sepoltuario Fiorentino, autograph	pp. 344-345, no. 104
D. S. Pines, “Tomb Slabs of Santa Croce”, Columbia University	pp. 169-174, no. 18

Notes

[] Baldovinetti provided the date of death for Francesco d'Antonio Benvenuti as 1367.
[a] The history of this tomb and its accompanying water font is complicated by the fact that its condition was significantly compromised between the compilation of the 1439 and 1440 sepoltuari and that of 1596. The monument had suffered more damage by 1652 when Stefano Rosselli noted that the water font had been ruined and broken into pieces (rovinata et in pezzi), a detail omitted in the ASFi copy. Moreover, the fourteenth-century patrons of this tomb complex used the surname Benvenuti, but the family changed its name to Nobili in 1379 and modified their arms of a blue shield with two silver bendlets (thin diagonals) framing two crossed daggers, replacing the weapons with a pattern of fleur-de-lis. Though Francesco della Foresta and Stefano Rosselli drew the Nobili arms with the lilies, della Foresta noted that in fact no lilies were present, whether from erosion or because the Benvenuti arms were never updated is unclear. Furthermore, it seems that the monument was commissioned by two cousins named Francesco: Francesco d'Antonio di Chiaro Benvenuti installed the tomb slab and Francesco di Bartolino di Chiaro Benvenuti put his name on the water font. The monument was inherited by the grandsons of Francesco di Bartolino, who all used the surname Nobili. Giovanni di Lorenzo Nobili renovated the tomb in 1760, and it was restored in the early twentieth century.
[b] The inscription was noted as ruined as early as the 1596 sepoltuario, unsurprising given the tomb's proximity to the side door that led from the church's right aisle into the friary, but Francesco della Foresta in his version compiled in 1615 included a transcription of the original dedication to Francesco d'Antonio di Chiaro Benvenuti.
[c] In his 1615 sepoltuario of Santa Croce, Francesco della Foresta drew the arms of the Nobili family but noted that its band of lilies was in fact absent, suggesting that the arms on the tomb were those used by the family when they called themselves the Benvenuti. The arms were similar – blue shields with two silver bendlets. In the Benvenuti arms, these thin diagonals framed two small crossed daggers at the upper left of the diagonal band, which were replaced by a repetition of gold fleur-de-lis when the family adopted the Nobili name in 1379. While it is possible that Benvenuti-Nobili heirs replaced the daggers with lilies at some point after 1379, whether in stone, paint, or metal, is impossible to know.
[d] Given that Francesco di Bartolino commissioned the water font above the Benvenuti-Nobili tomb, it is likely that he was buried in the tomb below that carried his first cousin's name. Moreover, Francesco di Bartolino's grandsons were heirs to the tomb in the early fifteenth century.
[e] Zanobi's father was guild consul in the first trimester of 1408, but was dead when drawn for office on August 29th.
[f] Leonardo's father was prior in May and June 1411, but was dead when drawn for office on September 12th, 1417.
[g] Uberto's father was prior in May and June 1411, but was dead when drawn for office on September 12th, 1417.
[h] The Benvenuti family adopted Nobili as their surname after the honor was granted to them by the King of France in 1379. Whether they added the name or their new arms to the tomb slab of Francesco Benvenuti is not known.