Santa Maria Novella
Not far from the train station in the western portion of the city centre is the very pleasant Piazza Santa Maria Novella named after the church that fills up one entire side of the square. Dressed in the traditional green, white and pink patterns, it is hard to imagine that the church of Santa Maria Novella started life as the Florentine base of the Dominican order, staunch defenders of Catholicism. One of the most interesting thing about its interior is how the distance between the columns the line the church diminish as they approach the altar, a trick to make the nave appear longer than it actually is when viewed from the entrance. The church has some interesting and artistically significant frescoes. In particular, Masaccio' s 1427 fresco of The Trinity, one of the first to use perspective and proportion. In the choir you can find frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio that rank among his finest work and are a chronicle of life in the fifteenth-century in Florence. Having been commissioned by Giovanni Tornabuoni, the frescoes include portraits of certain ladies of the Tornabuoni family in representations of the birth of John the Baptist and of the Virgin, this was not uncommon during the age of patronage when benefactors were repaid for their financial support in this way. In the Cappella Gondi you can find Brunelleschi 's Crucifix while in Cappella Strozzi, the frescoes by Nardo di Cione include an entire wall depicting Dante's Inferno, Dante being a native to Florence and the author of the Divine comedy.
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