Santa Croce and the Franciscan Order

This weekend we went to Sorrento, Capri and Pompeii, but unfortunately, it was pretty rainy the whole time. I did get the chance to see some famous restaurants where celebrities eat and tour through ancient Roman ruins though!

(Ruins at Pompeii)

On our tour this Wednesday, we got to see the Basilica of Santa Croce, which I thought was especially interesting because of the mix of Jewish and Christian symbols on its front. (See below). It's not only a Franciscan church, but also the burial site of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Gentile and many more famous Italians! This church is the largest Franciscan one in the world and was undertaken by (probably) Arnolfo di Cambio in 1294.

"It was constructed with funding from the population and the Florentine Republic and built above the foundations of a small church which some monks had erected outside the walls of the city in 1252, just a few years after the death of Saint Francis. The remains of the original building were not identified until 1966, when in the aftermath of the great flood that submerged the city, part of the paving belonging to the present Basilica gave way." (iastate.edu)

(Façade, Basilica di Santa Croce)

The façade of the church wasn't completed until the 19th century, then done in the neo-Gothic style by a Jewish architect named Niccoló Matas. He integrated both Jewish and Christian symbolic elements on the front by placing a Star of David (6-pointed) at the pinnacle and, within it, the letters IHS (a Latin insignia meaning Jesus Man and Savior). Franciscan roots are evident immediately upon entering the church as one may notice a wooden roof above (an inexpensive element demonstrative of Franciscan austerity).

Within the church is a large crucifixion by Cimabue as well as the sacristy frescoes Road to Calvary (Spinello Aretino), Crucifixion (Taddeo Gaddi) and Resurrection (Niccoló Gerini). Originally there was a tramezzo (a partition or wall) dividing the church, but it has since been replaced with stone altars and Mannerist altarpieces. Above the central door stands a rose window which contains the Deposition by Lorenzo Ghiberti and in the private chapels of Bardi, Baroncelli and Peruzzi are Gothic frescoes by Giotto and Taddeo Gaddi (his pupil). These include Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata and scenes of the life of Mary based on the Golden Legend by Jacopo da Varagine (also seen in the frescoes by Giovanni da Milano and Rinuccini Master in the Rinuccini Chapel).

Bibliography

[iastate.edu] http://www.music.iastate.edu/courses/471/s_croce.htm