Memorials

S. Giovanni Gerosolimitano altar maggiore a

Benini, Bindo di Lapo di M. Vanni di Benino di Formica		circa 1362 (date is approximate)	e
Benini, Bartolommeo (fra) di Lapo di M. Vanni di Benino di Formica (cavaliere di Malta)		circa 1363 (date is approximate)	f

[a] For more on the altar, its patronage, and the identification of Nardo di Cione's triptych as its original altarpiece, see Giovan Battista Uccelli, Il convento di S. Giusto alle mura e i gesuati: aggiungonsi i capitoli della loro regola, testo di lingua or per la prima volta messo in luce (Firenze: Tipografia delle Murate, 1865), pp. 84-85 via Google Books and Dillian Gordon, David Bomford, Joyce Plesters, and Ashok Roy. “Nardo Di Cione’s ‘Altarpiece: Three Saints.’” National Gallery Technical Bulletin 9 (1985): 21–37 via JSTOR

[b] The Knights of Malta had the hospital and oratory by at least 1362.
[c] The church and oratory were given to a group of nuns of the Order of San Giovanni Gerosolimitani, sister order to that of the original foundation.
[d] Ownership of the church passed to a group of Jesuate friars whose convent of San Giusto alle Mura outside of the Porta a Pinti gate was destroyed during the siege of Florence. They redecorated the altars with paintings brought from that church.
[e] BIndo di Lapo Benini claimed to have built the hospital and church of S. Giovanni Gerosolimitano at the request of his brother, a member of the Gerosolimitani, and credit for the high altar and altarpiece go to him. It has been identified as the triptych with three saints now in the National Gallery, London.
[f] Sources indicate that Bindo's patronage of the hospital and church of S. Giovanni was at the behest of his brother fra Bartolomeo.
[g] It his known that Bindo di Lapo Benini founded the hospital and oratory and presumed that he commissioned Nardo di Cione to paint the main altar's altarpiece. Whether the Benini coat of arms was displayed over the high altar or on the altarpiece's frame is not known, but it is very likely that they appeared inside the church as they still do over its main door.