Museo di Santa Maria Novella – Santa Maria Novella Museum
You can reach the Museo di Santa Maria Novella from the Duomo (cathedral) by taking Via dei Banchi to Piazza Santa Maria Novella, where the museum is located.
Address: 23 Piazza Santa Maria Novella
Opening hours: Monday to Thursday, 9:00–17:30; Friday, 11:00–17:30; Saturday, 9:00–17:00; Sunday and public holidays, 13:00–17:00.
Admission: €10 (church and museum).
In this convent complex (entrance to the left of the church) only the Green Cloister and the Spanish Chapel can be visited.
The cloister owes its name to the predominant green color in the wall paintings.
These are unfortunately in rather bad condition. Paolo Uccello multiplies the optical effects there (always the perspective). The most interesting is that of the Flood, in which Cosimo de' Medici is recognizable in the person of Noah.
The Spanish Chapel was granted to Eleonora of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I, and to the Spanish community. The frescoes, to the glory of the Dominicans, cover the whole of the chapel.
The most representative is that of the Church Militant and Triumphant, in which the Dominicans lead men to salvation. Look closely at the dogs accompanying them: besides a play on words on Domini canes (the dogs of the Lord), their black and white color is that of the habit of the Order.
