San Donnino
Museum of Sacred Art

OUTSIDE FLORENCE

The Museum Of Sacred Art of San Donnino, recently opened up, is housed in the complex adjacent to the church of Sant’Andrea which, as regards the visit to this museum, represents its natural complement.

The visit starts in an open gallery that houses a series of frescoes are displayed which, detached for preservation’ sake around 1960, come from the portico in front of the church, to which they are closely tied also from an iconographic point of view, as they represent the hagiography of the titular saint, that is Saint Andrew.

In the next three rooms, the paintings are arranged in chronological order, spaced by display cases of jewelry and ecclesiastical vestments which are pleasantly distributed around. Among the most important pictorial works is the so-called “Triptych of Saint Donnino”, the result of an historically accepted combination of works by 14th century painters, which had a separate origin: the central panel depicting the Madonna with Child is by the Master of Barberino and both the Saints on the sides and the predella are by Giovanni del Biondo.

Besides, dating back to the beginning of the 1400’s is the vivid Annunciation flanked by the saints Eustachius and Anthony the Abbot. And, datable later on in the same century, are some panels attributed to the workshop of Domenico del Ghirlandaio. In addition, , attributed to Matteo Rosselli, a Florentine painter of the 1600’s, is a Madonna in Glory who offers a Rosary to Saint Domenic.

Among the vestments, altar cloths and holy vessels, the reliquaries of the two principal Saints of the area, Saint Andrew and Saint Donnino, stand out. Moreover, some chalices are worthy of note, two of them commissioned by the Medici and one, probably, donated by a member of the local Mazzinghi family who are recorded also in the architrave of the access portal to the church, which is a clear sign of the persistence of their patronage.

Inside this building are housed some important works of the Renaissance. On the left wall, dominated by a Baptism of Christ from the workshop of Ghirlandaio, is a notable fresco by the young Domenico Ghirlandaio representing the Madonna with Child enthroned between the saints Sebastian and Julius.

On the right wall, right opposite, are two works by Francesco Botticini: a lunette with God the Benedictory Father and a panel with the Madonna enthroned with Child and Saints that shows signs of the ruinous 1966 flood.

Finally, the splendid Crucifix, a painting on a panel by Giovanni di Francesco painted around the middle of the 1400’s, dominates the only nave of the church.

Short Bibliography

Il Museo di Arte Sacra di San Donnino a Campi Bisenzio. Simari M.M. (a cura di), Firenze, Giunti Editore, 2006.

Museo di Arte Sacra a San Donnino. Simari M. M. (a cura di), Firenze, Editore: Edizioni Polistampa, 2002.

Arte a San Donnino: restauri e progetti. Simari M. M. (a cura di), Firenze, Editore: Polistampa, 1997.

The facade of the Church of Sant’Andrea

The first room of the museum

Annunciation with Saints Eustace and Anthony the Abbot

Date: early decades of the 15th century
Technique and Materials: painting on a wooden panel
Artist: Master of the Annunciation of Brozzi (Giovanni dal Ponte?)

Painting on a wooden panel transferred to a new wooden support.

Chalice

Date: 1576
Technique and Materials: gilded brass, embossed and chased silver

Crucified Christ with the Madonna, Saint John, the Eternal Father, a Sibyl

Date: mid-15th century
Technique and Materials: painting on a wooden panel
Artist: Giovanni di Francesco, documented in Florence 1446-1459

The Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Anthony the Abbot, Andrew, Peter and Martin, Bishop of Tours

Date: late 15th century
Technique and Materials: painting on a wooden panel
Workshop of: Domenico Ghirlandaio
Artist: Davide Ghirlandaio?

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Sebastian and Julian – Baptism of Christ (lunette)

Date: ca. 1475 – late 15th century.
Technique and Materials: fresco
Workshop of: Domenico Ghirlandaio
Attributed to: Davide Ghirlandaio

Reliquary of Saint Andrew

Date: 18th century
Technique and Materials: carved and gilded wood

Saint Andrew with Saint John the Baptist and a Bishop Saint

Date: early 17th century.
Technique and Materials: fresco
Author: Florentine School of the early 17th century
Provenance: Portico of the Church of Sant’Andrea

Detached fresco.

Interior of the Church of Sant’Andrea

The second room of the museum

Processional canopy

Date: 1823
Technique and Materials: silver tissue in silk with gilded silver metallic threads, silver and gilded silver metallic foil
Production: Tuscan

Central cartouche (detail) of a processional canopy.

Chalice

Date: dated 1644
Technique and Materials: chased-finish silver and gilded silver

The Triptych of Saint Domninus

Date: second half of the 14th century
Technique and Materials: painting on a wooden panel
Artist: Master of Barberino (active in the second half of the 14th century) Giovanni del Biondo (documented in Florence 1356-1398) and workshop

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Catherine, Anthony the Abbot, Margaret of Hungary and Julian, Saint Domninus, Saint John the Baptist. Stories from the life of Saint Domninus.

Madonna and Child with Saints Sebastian, Bartholomew, James and Anthony the Abbot

Date: second half of the 15th century
Technique and Materials: tempera on a wooden panel
Artist: Francesco Botticini, Florence 1446-1498

Martyrdom of Saint Domninus

Date: 17th century
Technique and Materials: painting on canvas
Attributed to: Matteo Rosselli

Saint Julian

Date: early 16th century
Technique and Materials: painting on a wooden panel
Workshop of: Domenico Ghirlandaio
Attributed to: Sebastiano Mainardi

Painting on a wooden panel from the Company of Saints Julian and Roch

The loggia with detached frescoes

Adoration of the Shepherds

Date: last decades of the 16th century
Technique and Materials: painting on canvas
Artist: Cosimo Daddi
Provenance: Church of San Donnino

Reliquary bust of Saint Domninus

Date: early decades of the 18th century
Technique and Materials: silvered wood with mecca varnish overglaze
Artist: Tuscan sculptor

Chalice

Date: Mid-17th century
Technique and Materials: embossed, chased and partly gilded silver

The Madonna of the Rosary with Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saints Anthony of Padua and Agatha

Date: third decade of the 17th century
Technique and Materials: oil painting on canvas
Attributed to: Matteo Rosselli

Madonna and Child in Glory

Date: early 17th century
Artist: Florentine School of the early 17th century
Provenance: External portico of the Church of Sant’Andrea

Detached fresco.

Cope

Date: first half of the 18th century
Technique and Materials: gros de Tours lampas background worked in polychrome silk
Production: Italian

Saint Roch

Date: early 16th century
Technique and Materials: painting on a wooden panel
Workshop of: Domenico Ghirlandaio
Attributed to: Sebastiano Mainardi

Painting on a wooden panel from the Company of Saints Julian and Roch

Address

San Donnino Museum of Sacred Art
Piazza Costituzione, 1
Campi Bisenzio
Phone: 055 8997200
Fax: 055 8991339
Website | E-mail

How to get there:
By car: from Florence city center, follow the signs for Novoli (Via Pratese).
Driving on the A1, take the exit for Prato Est (Firenze Nord). Continue in the direction of Florence and exit at Calenzano-Sesto Fiorentino.
By bus: ATAF Line 35.

Opening hours

As of February 2014, the hours of the San Donnino Museum of Sacred Art are as follows:
Regular opening hours: Friday, 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.;
The second week of the month also: Saturday 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday 9:30 to 12:00 a.m.

Reservations are required for visits on other days. Call 055 8997200 to book.

Tickets

There is no entrance fee, but voluntary donations are appreciated.

Services

accessibility for the differently abled
historical archives
bookshop
guided tours