Un Bel Composto: The Unification of the Visual Arts at the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo

• Main Author: Kain, Arrie Ann
• Other Authors: Zucker, Mark J.
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: LSU 2011
• Subjects: Art
• Online Access: http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04212011-101531/

In Florences prestigious district of Lion dOro, the Basilica of San Lorenzo, like numerous other medieval churches, began a significant expansion project during the first quarter of the Quattrocento. As a necessary means to raise capital and offset the enormous costs associated with the renovations, new chapels were attached to the main body of existing structures and privately endowed by established families; moreover, such projects allowed them to celebrate their status, flex their political muscle and extol their familys patron saints. The Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo, for the burgeoning Medici, was an opportunity to construct their dynastic pantheon, setting the standard for future Renaissance building enterprises. Designed and built between the years 1417 and 1428, the structure served dual roles as both a sacristy and a family mausoleum. Giovanni di Bicci de Medici, the original patron, followed by his heirs, Cosimo and Lorenzo de Medici, assembled the most prominent Florentine artists to design, furnish and ornament the structure with works of art in the name of their ascending political domination. This thesis represents an exploration of how each element of the Old Sacristythe architecture, sculpture and paintingcombines symbiotically with every other element in the Sacristy, iconographically as well as stylistically, to create un bel composto.