You may feel this church is missing something, and you would be right: it is missing its facade. That rough brick wall is the skeleton that was meant to be clad in marble, and it stayed that way for good.

1The Medici parish

San Lorenzo is one of the oldest churches in Florence: according to tradition, it was consecrated by St Ambrose of Milan in 393. From 1419 Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, founder of the family fortune, paid for its rebuilding and gave the job to Filippo Brunelleschi. The result is one of the first Renaissance interiors: grey pietra serena columns, round arches and clear proportions. From then on it was the family church, a block from where they lived, and many of them are buried in it.

2Michelangelo's facade

In 1518 Pope Leo X, a Medici, signed a contract with Michelangelo for a monumental marble facade. The artist spent months in the quarries of Carrara and Seravezza, but in 1520 the contract was cancelled. His wooden model survives in the Casa Buonarroti.

Michelangelo did work inside, though: he designed the New Sacristy, with the Medici tombs, and the Laurentian Library.

The great dome you see behind belongs to the Chapel of the Princes, the mausoleum of the grand dukes.

3What to look for

  • The unfinished brick facade.
  • The monument to Giovanni delle Bande Nere, father of Cosimo I, by Baccio Bandinelli.
  • The dome of the Chapel of the Princes, behind the church.

Documented

Brunelleschi rebuilt the church from 1419 with funds from Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici; Michelangelo's contract for the facade (1518) was cancelled in 1520.

Oral tradition

The consecration by St Ambrose in 393 comes from the church's own tradition.

Sources and credits

Opera Medicea Laurenziana, official website of the Basilica of San Lorenzo; Musei del Bargello, Cappelle Medicee; William E. Wallace, «Michelangelo at San Lorenzo» (Cambridge University Press, 1994).

Photos:

  • The Basilica of San Lorenzo with its bare brick facade and the monument to Giovanni delle Bande Nere: Txllxt TxllxT, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Spotted a mistake? Drop us a line and we’ll look into it.