Florence's San Gaetano - A Baroque Jewel
San
Gaetano is one of the few completely Baroque churches in Florence, and
offers a refreshing change of pace after the refined rationality of
Brunelleschi or the large, but somehow somewhat stark airiness of some of
Florence's earlier churches, such as Santa Maria Novella or the Duomo. In
a word, it's fun.
It hasn't always been like this, however: it began life as San Michele Berteldi, and was completely redesigned in the beginning of the 17th century, by Bernardo Buontalenti; the architects who took over the work and saw it through to its completion (in the 1680s) were told to give the Baroque a "Florentine Flair" and certainly succeeded: Though the building has the lightness of line typical of the Baroque, it also has a certain measured note of sobriety to it that is very Florentine, especially in the use of dark Pietra Serena to delimit the arches and other spaces. At least that's what one might think most of the time.
However, when San Gaetano was restructured, it was the custom to
decorate churches with sumptuous silk tapestries, called paramenti,
which would be changed according to the time of year. They've almost all
disappeared now, many into museums, but this year was special -- San
Gaetano was reopened after a long restoration. To celebrate, the parish
got out a set of embroyedered silk paramenti from 1730 and put
them up, for the first time since the early 1950s. The effect is stunning;
suddenly the dark stone moldings stand out against waves of glistening
gold, and the altar is framed in a way that is difficult to describe. The
custodian says people have burst into tears of wonder, and I wouldn't be
surprised.
Alas, the paramenti are going to have to come down soon --
they're antique, and exposure to Florentine air certainly isn't good for
them. When they're gone we'll be left with a wonderfully harmonious church
whose elements all work together following a common plan (contrast this
with Santa Croce, where the tomb Vasari did for Michelangelo vies with the
nearby sculptures of Canova's monument to Vittorio Alfieri, while
Galileo's rather gaudy Baroque tomb was simply set into 14th
century frescos, ruining the earlier composition). Matteo Rosselli's
Chapel of the Nativity (in the right transept) is quite beautiful, as is
the bronze crucifixion in the choir, which is by Giovanni Francesco
Susini, and is considered his finest sculpture. The second chapel on the
left of the nave, on the other hand, has Pietro da Cortona's Martyrdom of
San Lorenzo. When you are finished looking at the paintings, San Gaetano
is a fine place to spend a quiet moment, far from the tourists.
Pracitcal details: San Gaetano is at the far end of Via Tornabuoni with respect to the Arno, in Piazza Antinori, and is about half-way between the Duomo and Santa Maria Novella. It's open mornings and afternoons; if you like what you see please leave a donation for further restoration.
Have a great time!
Kyle Phillips
