Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi & Perugino's Crucifixion
Why is it significant?
Step through the gate in Borgo Pinti and the street noise falls away. You are in a calm courtyard ringed by slender columns, a private little piazza laid out in front of the church door around 1490 by the architect Giuliano da Sangallo. The church has changed hands, and names, more than once.
Key Facts
| Place | Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi & Perugino's Crucifixion |
|---|---|
| Address | Borgo Pinti 58, 50121 Firenze FI, Italy |
| Geo Coordinates | 43.77420, 11.26460 |
| Part of Walk | From the Dome to David: Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and Michelangelo in Florence |
| Generated | Generated |
Step through the gate in Borgo Pinti and the street noise falls away. You are in a calm courtyard ringed by slender columns, a private little piazza laid out in front of the church door around 1490 by the architect Giuliano da Sangallo.
The church has changed hands, and names, more than once. In the fifteenth century it belonged to Cistercian monks. In 1628 Carmelite nuns moved in, and the church was later dedicated to their most famous sister, Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi, a mystic who died in 1607 and was made a saint in 1669. Here is the paradox: she came from the same family as the conspirators who in 1478 stabbed Giuliano de' Medici to death during Mass in the cathedral. A century later, the most notorious name in Florence produced its most famous nun.
The treasure is hidden away in the old chapter house, the room where the monks once met. Its end wall is divided by two pillars into three arches, and Pietro Perugino painted a single Crucifixion straight across all three, around 1493 to 1496. The architecture becomes a window frame. Through it you see Christ on the cross, Mary Magdalene kneeling at its foot, the Virgin, Saint John and two saints, and behind them one continuous landscape of soft hills, slim trees and a pale river valley that seems to go on for ever.
Perugino was then the most sought-after painter in Italy, and a boy from Urbino called Raphael would soon learn to paint in exactly this serene, airy manner. Yet Vasari, who loved a bit of gossip, claims the master of all this calm devotion was a man of very little religion, who cared above all about money. Look at those peaceful faces and decide for yourself.
For centuries the fresco lay behind convent walls, seen by very few. Even now this is one of the quietest masterpieces in Florence, often with nobody else in the room. Walk north up Borgo Pinti and turn left into Via della Colonna, which leads you straight into the most harmonious square in the city.