Rucellai Sepulchre: A Renaissance Funerary Chapel in Florence
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- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Republic of Florence
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Tomb
On this page8 sections
History
The Rucellai Sepulchre is a Renaissance funerary chapel in Florence, Italy, commissioned by the Florentine merchant Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai and designed by the architect and humanist Leon Battista Alberti. Its setting originated in 1417, when the walls of the nave of San Pancrazio were built, while Alberti probably began work on the chapel and sepulchre in 1457. An inscription above the entrance records completion in 1467.
The Rucellai Commission
The sepulchre was intended to contain Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai’s remains and is also described as containing the tombs of members of his family. Giovanni died in 1481. The chapel was placed in the church closest to the Rucellai family palace and formed the final work by Alberti in this part of Florence.
The project belonged to a wider relationship between Rucellai and Alberti. Rucellai had commissioned Alberti to remodel the family palace from 1447, complete the façade of Santa Maria Novella from 1456, and build the Loggia Rucellai, completed in 1460. The chapel was dedicated to the Annunciation, probably explaining the lily decoration on the battlement crowning the sepulchre.
Holy Sepulchre Association
The building has been interpreted as a Renaissance imitation or emulation of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, specifically the tomb within the Anastasis, the traditional rotunda associated with Christ’s burial and resurrection. A square inscription above the door states that Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai had the temple built in the form of the tomb in Jerusalem so that prayers for his salvation could be offered from the place associated with Christ’s resurrection.
An inscription running along the entablature, the horizontal architectural band above the columns and pilasters, uses elegant Roman lettering modeled on ancient monuments. It gives a verse from the Gospel of Mark: “You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified; he rose, he is not here; this is the place where they put him.” The lettering is 16.8 centimeters high, comparable to the inscriptions on the Roman tomb of Caecilia Metella. Alberti designed it by dividing the underlying square into twelve parts, producing a slender and refined form.
Later History
The Rucellai Sepulchre is the only part of the former church of San Pancrazio that remains consecrated. The deconsecrated portion now houses the Marino Marini Museum. The chapel remained closed for many years during restoration and reopened in 2013. That work also altered the lantern’s position, moving it forward from the center to improve its visibility.
Remains
Exterior Structure and Marble Inlay
The sepulchre is a small, strictly classical structure set inside the Rucellai Chapel. Its rectangular plan follows the golden ratio. Fluted Corinthian pilasters, flat wall-based supports with capitals modeled on the ornate Corinthian order, articulate the walls, which are faced with square marble-inlay panels.
The exterior contains 30 square panels decorated mainly with vegetal and geometric patterns. White and green marble form sober but elaborate designs, with circles and other repeated shapes arranged symmetrically and regularly. This marble inlay adapts the Florentine Romanesque tradition associated with the Baptistery of San Giovanni, San Miniato al Monte, and the Badia Fiesolana. Alberti regularized that tradition within a Renaissance design.
Crown and Inscriptions
The crown consists of a battlement decorated with lilies and a lantern designed as a small circular temple. The lantern was moved forward from its original central position during nineteenth-century restoration. Together with the inscriptions, these elements give the compact structure a carefully ordered architectural finish.
The square panel above the door carries the inscription dated 1467 and describing the sepulchre’s connection with the tomb in Jerusalem. The exterior also bears heraldic emblems associated with prominent fifteenth-century figures. Giovanni Rucellai is represented by a billowing sail with loosened rigging, Cosimo de’ Medici by a mazzocchio, a padded or ring-shaped Renaissance headpiece, with three feathers, Piero de’ Medici by a diamond ring with two feathers, and Lorenzo de’ Medici by three interlinked rings.
Interior and Painted Decoration
The interior is entered through a very low doorway. The burial chamber occupies the entire interior, with a marble slab standing against its southern wall. A recumbent statue of Christ rests on the sarcophagus.
The interior walls and vault are entirely covered with frescoes. The decoration includes Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels and Resurrection, works attributed to Giovanni da Piamonte, who was a pupil of the Italian Renaissance painter Piero della Francesca.
Alberti associated the repeated geometric decoration with meditation on the mysteries of the faith. The design later influenced the interior decoration of Alvar Aalto and was echoed by Carlo Scarpa in the exterior inscriptions of the Querini Stampalia Foundation in Venice.
