"Medici Chapel & Michelangelo" Top 5 Page for this destination Medici Chapel Tip by brendareed

The Medici family financed the renovation of the San Lorenzo Church and the adjoining chapels. The entrance to the Medici Chapels is on the back side of the church and is separate from the church entrance.

After paying to enter (€6), you come into a museum area that has quite a few elaborate chapel pieces on display. Our first stop was the New Sacristy which was designed by Michelangelo and has his sculptures in it. This room houses the tombs of Cosimo’s two sons, Lorenzo (the Magnificent) and Guiliano. On their tombs are Michelangelo’s famous sculptures of Night/Day and Dusk/Dawn. There is also his Madonna and Child (originally planned for Pope Julius II’s tomb). Unfortunately, Michelangelo just couldn’t sculpt female nudes as well as male nudes. The poor lady in Night has some real issues with her chest! But this would become the influence for Mannerism for the next 40 years or so. His original plans called for frescoes as well, but they didn’t get done.

Michelangelo fell out of favor with the locals and had to be smuggled out of town. It is said he hid in this room while waiting to escape. If you look behind the altar you will see where the workers doodled on the walls – they were supposed to be covered with frescoes so I’m sure they never thought we’d be looking at their ‘work’. Photos are absolutely prohibited in this room!

After visiting the new Sacristy, we toured the Chapel of the Princes – an elaborate chapel with a domed ceiling. This wasn’t a Renaissance design but contains many tombs of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. There were lots and lots of marble in this room. The details on the altar are worth some time looking over.

This was an interesting stop and worth it if you are interested in Michelangelo’s work. If that doesn’t interest you, then I wouldn’t recommend this for you. Without Michelangelo, it is just another fancy church.

Before leaving the San Lorenzo area, stop by the Laurentian Library, which is in the cloisters of the church. The vestibule as well as the interior of the library were designed by Michelangelo.

Address: Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini, 6
Directions: entrance is behind the San Lorenzo Church near the San Lorenzo market
Phone: +39 055 2388-602
Website: http://www.firenzemusei.it/medicee/index.html